DMD Themes
HIV and AIDS
Think PositHIVe! © LWF/J. Schep |
There are more than 40 million people living with HIV and AIDS worldwide. For member churches in Africa, the AIDS pandemic is the most life-threatening reality for their people. The societal impact is not yet so pervasive in Latin America and the Caribbean or Eastern Europe and Russia, but Asia is at risk for an impact comparable to Africa.
LWF Action Plan on HIV and AIDS
The LWF launched a global campaign against HIV and AIDS in 2002. It includes an LWF action plan on HIV and AIDS, with the theme, "Compassion, Conversion, Care: Responding as Churches to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic" (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) 
, aimed at engaging LWF member churches in open discussion about the disease, and promoting their active participation.
Already at the end of the first three-year phase of the campaign in 2006, an increasing number of church leaders were speaking openly about HIV and AIDS and there was a substantial increase in initiatives (ranging from first steps to large-scale outreach programs) implemented by member churches and LWF field programs.
The key indicators for success in the campaign are whether the churches are willing to internalize the challenges of HIV and AIDS, whether they continue to see AIDS as “them” or “among us,” and whether the churches become AIDS competent.
Becoming AIDS competent as a church includes:
- having a sound theological understanding of the ethical questions surrounding AIDS;
- having up-to-date knowledge about prevention, counseling, testing and treatment possibilities;
- having a good AIDS policy and a designated AIDS resource person in place; and
- ensuring that all workers in the church, both clergy and lay, are aware of these policies and of the new and adjusted theological understanding within the church.
LWF handbook Grace, Care and Justice
The LWF handbook for HIV and AIDS work, Grace, Care and Justice, brings together Lutheran theological and pastoral understandings on accompanying persons living with and affected by HIV and AIDS in order to empower leaders at all levels of the church. Further, it acts as a basic primer on medical aspects, prevention, home-based care, gender concerns and advocacy.
LWI Special Issue: “PositHIVe Church”
PositHIVe church |
“POSITHIVE CHURCH” is a special issue of Lutheran World Information published to mark World AIDS Day 2005. It is a public testimony to the challenges, failures and, at times, courageous initiatives of churches and others in facing HIV and AIDS. In many stories and testimonies, including projects coordinated through DMD, it presents the vision and commitments of the Lutheran communion in facing this pandemic.
Click for information to download a copy of the LWI Special Issue: “PositHIVe Church”. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
For further information please contact:
HIV and AIDS Desk Coordinator
Rev. Dr Veikko Munyika
HIV and AIDS Desk Administrative Assistant
Claudia Hoffmann-Denarié
