In Australia, somewhere between 12-18,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS. Each year just under 100 people die from HIV/AIDS related illnesses, and each year sees 700-1000 new cases of HIV infection.
Once we move into the developing world though, things are very different.
The World Health Organisation estimates that 40 million people world-wide are currently infected with either strand of HIV, the worst effects being felt in Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa, between 25-28 million people are infected with HIV. 2.3 million people die from AIDS related illnesses each year, and there are 3.4 million new cases every 12 months. Out of all the African nations, Botswana is the worst effected. Over 1/3 of all adults living in Botswana are infected with HIV. It’s estimated that because of AIDS the average life expectancy for adults in Botswana will plummet to 29 years by 2010. And of course, apart from those living with HIV, there are those family members who are affected. By 2010, it’s estimated that there will be at least 25 million African children who will have lost one or both parents to the disease.
In the face of such horrific statistics we can feel absolutely helpless; numbed by the shear enormity of the problem. Not doing anything can even seem like a viable option. Why waste time and effort on a battle you will only loose? However, as Christian people we have a hope which leads us to banish such defeatist logic:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21.3-4)
Because of the final victory of Jesus Christ we can afford to have confidence in the face of such tragedy. This post is the first in a series which will explore how we as Christians can respond to this sad epidemic which is unfolding across the globe. How can we think about this event and what can we do to help? As Christian people we are unique in the world. We follow a unique Lord and we have a unique message, so we will also have a unique response to this tragedy; we’ll have our own unique contribution to make.
I hope you find the series stimulating yet productively unsettling.
The stats in this post are from Weinreich and Benn, AIDS, Meeting the Challenge: Data, Facts, Background (Geneva: WCC Publications, 2004).
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3 comments:
Have you heard Max Collison on this topic? We had him to credo the other week - a man who worked as a doctor (with his wife) in Tanzania. He had some really, really interesting things to say.
One of them was a small thing that we can do as Christians to be thinking about justice. Buying fair trade coffee for example.
Max was saying that the highest rate of AIDS is found in single heterosexual women - because they are the ones who have to prostitute themselves to pay for doctors of food for their children. Yet if they were paid a fair price for the labour that they do (ie 10c's instead of 1 per kg) then they wouldn't have to prostitute themselves - hence helping to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.
How amazing is it to think that buying a cup of coffee here affects someone over there?
Um sorry, didn't mean to write so much... get a bit carried away sometimes.
Hi Marty,
You probably already know this but PNG is currently being dubbed "the new Africa" in regard to HIV/AIDS. The stats of HIV/AIDS coupled with a fast growing population are really scarry.
Anyway I have quite an interst in PNG and aid delivery to PNG. Maybe checkout www.aidwatch.com.au for more info on the subject of HIV/AIDS in PNG if you want some more info...
Jodi: Yeah, I know Max, we're at the same church. He's really pushing the fair trade coffee thing, and it seems to be taking off at St Paul's. He really believes that it can make a huge difference.
Rachel: I have heard a little about AIDS in PNG. I guess a problem we face in the west is to think of AIDS as purely an African and/or western homosexual issue. If Africa has taught us anything it’s that the virus can explode anywhere.
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