Can the global community continue with “business as usual” when millions
of poor people are dying every year from diseases like malaria and TB that
have simple, inexpensive solutions? Can the world stand by and watch as
entire countries are ravaged by AIDS striking down millions of lives in
their prime, reducing life expectancies from the 60s to the 40s?
Such questions were discussed by the leaders of the G8, the world’s
richest, most powerful nations, when they met in Okinawa last July. Although
these summit meetings do not typically focus on health, there was a collective
sense that something was not right. Health for All by the Year 2000 obviously
had not been achieved. So they pledged to support initiatives to reduce
malaria and TB deaths by 50% and AIDS infections by 25% by the year 2010.
A separate meeting of the G77, leaders of developing countries, endorsed
this commitment. WHO, UNAIDS and other organizations were called on to
mount a global effort to reach these targets.
WHO and UNAIDS organized an advocacy forum in October in Switzerland
with 200 participants to discuss approaches to what they called a “massive
effort against diseases of poverty.” What must be done to make cheap malaria
drugs and insecticide-treated bednets costing only $3 accessible to everyone
at risk of malaria? How can the $10 course of drugs, administered through
DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course) be extended to more
than the one in six TB-infected persons who now benefit? What is needed
to promote safe behaviors for AIDS prevention and prevent and cure sexually
transmitted diseases?
Nobody is looking for a gigantic, WHO-led project to undertake the massive
effort needed to reach the G8/G77 disease reduction targets. Rather, there
is a call for all countries and institutions, including faith-based organizations,
to study how they could intensify their efforts and mobilize the required
human and financial resources.
In her keynote address, WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland said
that “we must go beyond the traditional health sector – working with people
in their homes, their work places, their schools, their community halls
and their places of worship.”
How should churches respond to this global call to fight the major diseases
of poverty? The CCIH Executive Director, who participated in the Switzerland
meeting, helped organize an informal consultation among a group of Christians
to discuss this question, especially with respect to AIDS. Some of the
points mentioned were:
1. Enormous Potential - Churches could do a lot, given
their vast networks and their reach into communities.
2. Churches' Engagement Is Too Modest - Although many good
programs exist and in some countries churches are major players in health,
their collective effort is too modest and uncoordinated.
3. Religious Leaders Are Often Ignorant of the Best Strategies
– With regard to AIDS, for example, church leaders are increasingly willing
to do something, but they typically do not know what to do.
4. Priests and Pastors Need Help on How to Address AIDS in
a Christian Context - Religious leaders are often reluctant to speak
out about AIDS because they are not adequately equipped with a theology
and sufficient knowledge and training to address AIDS with confidence in
a religious setting. With help, they could also speak to the justice dimensions
of AIDS and other diseases of poverty.
5. Christian and Church-Based Programs Are Too Scattered, Uncoordinated
and Inadequately Documented – What is needed is a greater sharing of
best practices, cross-fertilization of ideas, and more networking and partnering,
both with other Christian groups as well as with governments, donors, NGOs
and other civil society organizations.
6. Likely Increase in Resources Available to Faith-Based Efforts
- With the growing attention to AIDS, it is likely that resources available
to churches and faith-based NGOs will increase rapidly if they develop
good proposals.
The Christian group put forward several ideas, although it is not
clear by whom or how they could be implemented. They included:
Identify, Document, and Disseminate Best Practices – to survey experience
to date by religious institutions, assess best practices, document these
programs, and share this information widely.
Promote Global Networks of Christian Organizations – to share information,
facilitate partnerships, and enhance a collective response.
E-mail Listserve and Website – to use the power of the Internet to facilitate
communication and collaboration.
(Contact CCIH if you have questions or suggestions. Email
ccih@ccih.org, or write to CCIH, 1817 Rupert St., McLean, VA 22101)CCIH
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