Time to Deliver, International AIDS pt. 2

The theme of the 16th International AIDS Conference was Time to Deliver. World leaders, people living with HIV and AIDS, doctors, healthcare workers, social workers, volunteers, professors, pastors, etc. all came together to call the world to action-- to step up and do something to address this international crisis. The highlighted plenary speakers included former president Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Anders Nordstrom, Richard Gere, and the UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis. (Note the lack of women, minorities, and non-Western leaders, more to come on that.)

Although seeing Clinton was surreal for me, it was ultimately Stephen Lewis who captured the hearts and minds of the 24,000 gathered delegates, myself included. Lewis was not afraid to confront the UN, as well as the leaders of several countries including the US on their failure to provide the aid that has been promised to Africa. He was the only plenary speaker to note the lack of women, minorities, and non-Western leaders on the main stage, and called for the next International AIDS Conference to change that. He also demanded that the UN appoint an African woman to serve as his replacement when he steps down from his position as special envoy next year, his reason being that African women are the ones who are suffering the most at the hands of HIV/AIDS, and only an African woman can truly understand the plight of her homeland in light of AIDS. He received endless standing ovations, as well as a great deal of media attention for his controversial, but truthful statements.

At the conference I realized just how easy it is for us in the US to overlook the crisis that much of the rest of the world faces because of AIDS. We don't seem to read about it in the news, or talk about it as often as perhaps we once did. But the reality is that AIDS is not going away, or getting better--it's getting worse. Last year 2.8 million people died from AIDS related illnesses and 4.1 million people became newly infected. Over 70% of those infected do not know that they are carrying the virus. The conclusions that the conference came to is that it is Time to Deliver the following (in no particular order):

• Provide universal affordable access to antiretrovirals
• Provide funding to pay healthcare workers in the field of HIV/AIDS a living wage
• Provide universal access to affordable HIV/AIDS testing
• Provide education to all ages on how HIV/AIDS is spread and treated
• Employ harm reduction techniques to prevent the spread
• Encourage and support minority women in speaking out

The conference hosted several worship services. At the service that Kevin and I attended we prayed for all of those people who suffer as a result of HIV/AIDS, for those who care for them, and for world leaders. We also prayed that God would move the world into action. There were many times at the conference where I felt so insignificant compared to many of the people I heard and met. But through these prayers I realized that God calls all of us in unique ways to serve our neighbors, and God has given each of us a voice and the power to listen. For more information about the conference visit www.aids2006.org and to find out what the ELCA is doing visit www.elca.org/aids.