Anglican Communion News Service

All African Anglican Conference on HIV/AIDS

Boksburg

13 August 2001

The Most Reverend Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town
The Right Reverend Johannes Seoka, Bishop of Pretoria
The Reverend Canon John Peterson, General Secretary of the Anglican Communion
Members of the Clergy
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

We are full of thanks and a renewed sense of commitment as we stand before the highest echelon of the Anglican Church in South Africa, and other parts of Africa and worldwide, to ponder one of the most urgent challenges that humanity has found itself confronted with since creation.  The struggle against apartheid was hugely enhanced by the role played by some of your distinguished predecessors and peers whose names will forever remain etched on the most sacred rocks of the annals of the proud history of our great land.

Most Reverend Father Ndungane, because of their service to the poorest of the poor and the most disadvantaged, afflicted and marginalized, the mere mention of the names of such of your predecessors as Archbishops Trevor Huddleston, Geoffrey Clayton and Desmond Tutu  inspires us beyond measure.  We know there are other members of the Anglican clergy as well as other denominations as such, who deserve special mention.  We owe it to them and others in the Christian Church and other faiths, religions or belief-systems, to be as devout in our combat of HIV/AIDS as we were when we waged the just war against apartheid.

Allow me to take this opportunity, as a servant of the South African people through Government, and as Chairman of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), to affirm our partnership with your Church and other religious or faith-based organisations of our nation.  We welcome the initiative that will be borne of your deliberations that begin today and commend you on your work already underway against HIV/AIDS.   E seek for our partnership against HIV/AIDS to continue and to have high impact - positive results.

Now, there are those things that the Church or faith-based formations are best suited or positioned to do or lead in addressing in the work on HIV/AIDS.  As we explore these let us note the fact that as a nation, including Government and all the major sectors of civil society, we have achieved remarkable success in raising awareness and imparting knowledge on the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  It can be said now with a fairly high degree of confidence that almost, if not all the people of South Africa, who are capable of comprehending, are aware of and have some knowledge about HIV/AIDS.  The disappointment is that the high level of awareness has not been matched by change in attitudes and adoption of responsible sexual practices conducive for the reduction of the infection rates.  That is very worrisome.

The challenge therefore is that as we work to make sure that we reach 100% in terms of awareness and basic knowledge on HIV/AIDS. We have to have as our goal the achievement of a state of responsible attitudes and behaviour.  Our national HIV/AIDS strategy has three legs, namely abstinence, being faithful to ones partner and using a condom -commonly referred to as the ABC.  I will not go into motivating this strategic approach - suffice it to say that up to now our programme against HIV/AIDS has very much been a hearts and minds campaign in which information, good judgement, choices, and responsible behaviour are of critical importance.  ABC is the mainstay of our prevention programme.  I leave it to you to establish the way in which you could play a role in the exercise to bring under control the spread of the scourge - in south Africa and throughout our continent.

Then there is the area of care and support.  Here it is vital that we have to clearly and constantly bring one simple and fundamental truth to all our people in the religious sector, business sector, entertainment sector, organized labour - in all sectors and all walks of life.  We may not all be infected with HIV, or we may not all have AIDS but we are all affected by HIV/AIDS.  We fight on the same side as the people living with HIV/AIDS.  We have to be able to say - we are all belligerents in this war, marching against this common enemy, HIV/AIDS.   We look to the clergy not only to be chaplains in our war on HIV/AIDS, but also to fulfil many other functions - as you shall identify and elaborate during your deliberations.

As the Church, works in partnerships with other faith-based organizations, philanthropic, welfare and humanitarian societies, together with structures of Government, it can do more than many other sectors in doing away with the stigma associated with HIUV/AIDS.  Stigmatizing HIV/AIDS has resulted in horrific forms of discrimination and violence - even rejection, ridicule and death itself, for HIV infected individuals and people with AIDS related ailments.  In certain many instances families and relatives have suffered untold pain and discrimination.

There is a commonly held belief, that we also share, that voluntary testing and disclosure of the HIV/AIDS status will help in the work against the pandemic.  Then we have to very swiftly and effectively get rid of the stigma.  We acknowledge the fact that the Anglican Church sees this as one of the top priority areas.  The human and legal rights as well as human dignity of those living with HIV/AIDS ought also to be respect and upheld.

Also as part of our broad multi-pronged national strategy that is driven on the basis of a multi-sectoral coalition we seek to find lasting scientific and medical solutions that are affordable, safe and accessible to all our people.  The National Health Department is mandated to address such aspects as treatment and medicines or drugs amongst others, as part of our comprehensive strategy.  We are also encouraged by the reports emanating from the South African Medical Research Council and the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAV1) on the progress made in the earnest work to develop vaccines that will be effective against the strains of virus that are prevalent in South Africa.  The scientific community also constitutes a key sector in the scheme of things.

HIV/AIDS is also being seen now, more and more, not only from a narrow sense as an exclusively health or healthcare problem, but as a developmental challenge with formidable social and economic factors and implications as well.  Rural development and urban renewal work aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of our people should also be pursued vigorously as a drive that will advance our work to stop HIV and beat AIDS.  I remember how effective the Anglican Church and ecumenical movement as such was in the areas of development and poverty alleviation, among other things, during the struggle against apartheid.  I am also mindful of the contribution of the Church in the context of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).  Let it also be the case in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.

Since the focus of the Anglican Communion is on HIV/AIDS throughout the whole African continent we expect to work with you also at the level of the South African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union.  The trimming of the Anglican initiative is very important - and time is of the essence here, as the Africa south of the Sahara is reported to lead the world in terms of infections, AIDS-related deaths, AIDS orphans and so on.   We hope this move will inspire the rest of the religious sector to make the fight against HIV/AIDS  a priority.

South Africa works well in a co-ordinated and integrated manner with the other SADC countries.  We are also part of the Africa-wide work as exemplified in the Declaration that came out of the OAU Summit on HIV/AIDS in Abuja, Nigeria in April this year.

The Church therefore has a critical role in the area of advocacy that will impact all aspects of the subject of HIV/AIDS.  We welcome this initiative as profoundly exemplary indeed.  It is the first of its kind worldwide,  We trust that it will be received with a lot of enthusiasm throughout the continent and will enjoy co-operation and support.  Now it remains for me to extend our hand and welcome you as an organized force to join us in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

We wish you Divine guidance during your conference and look forward to working ever in greater collaboration with you against HIV/AIDS.

Thank you