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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 23.04.2004 |
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| Churches in Europe Urged to be More Actively Engaged in Fight against HIV/AIDS |
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Increased HIV Infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
ODESSA, Ukraine/GENEVA, 23 April 2004 (LWI) - The increasing spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in eastern Europe and central Asia compels churches to be more actively involved in the struggle against the stigmatization and discrimination of people living with HIV and AIDS. The regional director of the AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW), Anja Teltschik made these remarks during the April 20-25 Lutheran World Federation (LWF) regional consultation on HIV/AIDS in Odessa, Ukraine.
The churches are seen as especially important in providing information, awareness raising, advocacy, and in taking leadership , Teltschik said. Her work on behalf of AFEW focuses on Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and the Baltic states. AFEW is an international non-governmental, humanitarian and public health organization active in initiatives that help reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in the Newly Independent States (NIS) and former Soviet Union.
The conference, jointly organized by the LWF and German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine (DELKU), is being attended by about 40 representatives of European LWF member churches, women and youth leaders, and staff members of regional and international NGOs.
Teltschik argued for collaboration between churches, regional and international NGOs and municipal institutions and government offices in planning and carrying out joint projects, saying this would be a significant step in combating the spread of the HIV virus. None of these bodies individually would be able to work effectively against the HIV/AIDS pandemic, she said. She noted that the churches particularly offer a spiritual dimension, provide psychological and social welfare support, and mobilize communities.
But she was critical of the current tendency to see the HIV/AIDS pandemic mainly as a North-South problem, and not equally as an East-West problem. She also expressed concern that government institutions do not consider national and international NGOs to be equal partners, and decried the situation in eastern Europe where national NGOs have limited resources, while international NGOs are active to a limited extent.
Dr Arkadiusz Majszyk, coordinator of the UN AIDS program (UNAIDS) for Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus, spoke of the dramatic rise in HIV infections in eastern Europe and central Asia. Last year the region’s HIV infections rose from about 1.2 to 1.8 million, making it the greatest percentage increase worldwide in the past three years. There are 300,000 known HIV-infected persons living in the Russian Federation alone, but the actual number is estimated to be two or three times higher, Majszyk said. Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine are believed to have alarming increases in HIV rates.
Intravenous drug users are said to be the most seriously affected group, yet such persons also pass on the virus to their sexual partners in significant numbers. Other groups at risk include homosexuals and female sex workers. However it is clear that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is not limited to particular groups in society, Majszyk emphasized.
In Ukraine and Russia, 80 percent of people living with HIV and AIDS are between 15 and 29 years old. UNAIDS surveys show that in many countries, knowledge about HIV/AIDS is very limited, Majszyk continued. He said there women aged 15 to 24 years in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan who had never heard of HIV/AIDS, and noted that around a third of Russian students have been involved in intravenous drug usage.
An effective fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic must involve young people and make use of all available structures and channels for awareness raising, according to Majszyk. He called for an end to the stigmatization and exclusion of intravenous drug users and sex workers, if the HIV/AIDS battle is to be won.
For Majszyk, efforts to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic should prioritize care and support, as well as advocacy and prevention. Churches and other faith communities have a crucial role to play in promoting these concerns as they have well-functioning networks and significant influence in society, he said.
The meeting in Odessa is the last of four regional conferences organized under the 2002 LWF global campaign against HIV/AIDS and its related action plan, “Compassion, Conversion, Care: Responding as Churches to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic.” The first regional consultation was held in Africa in 2002, followed by Latin American and the Caribbean region in March 2003, while Asia’s took place in December 2003. (721 words)
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