Anglican Communion News Service

As the Government continues to prevaricate on HIV/AIDS and the nation becomes more desperate, Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane is calling on all religious leaders and organised society - including the unions - to take the initiative.

"We need an urgent strategic planning meeting of all interested parties so as to develop a plan of action and we need to move fast. We believe that history will measure this country's slow response to the pandemic in human, not statistical terms, and that the inherent injustices will be judged as serious a crime against humanity as apartheid."

The archbishop says government's stubborn refusal to work within scientifically accepted parameters is the greatest existing threat to the political and economic stability of our region.

"It impacts on the entire global family and entrenches the insidious effects of poverty, which is the greatest known form of violence. What is becoming increasingly clear is the futility of looking to government for a solution. At the very least, we need to apply pressure on our political leaders to change this situation."