ELCA affirms commitment to help end AIDS pandemic

CHICAGO (ELCA) – In observance of World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) affirms this church's commitment to the goals outlined in the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS. The goals include stopping the spread of the epidemic through prevention, treatment and care; eliminating the stigma experienced by those who are HIV-positive; and reducing the conditions of poverty that contribute to the spread of the disease.
"The ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS affirms that the body of Christ has AIDS," said Ulysses Burley, program associate, ELCA strategy on HIV and AIDS. "We are church together, and people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS include members of this church and people of faith and goodwill around the world. When one member of the body of Christ suffers, the rest of the body suffers with them."
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), nearly 37 million people worldwide were living with HIV at the end of 2014.
"While 70 percent of the world's epidemic is in Africa, the U.S. ranks ninth in the world in HIV prevalence – the only high-income country represented in the top 10 countries with the most people living with HIV, yet little attention is given to the United States epidemic," said Burley, who also is a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.
To address this, Burley emphasized that the primary aim of the ELCA's strategy – adopted by the ELCA Church Council in 2009 – is "to increase awareness around the domestic epidemic and response through education and capacity building in prevention and care for ELCA congregations and partners interested in providing direct services."
"Getting to Zero," the international theme for World AIDS Day, is focused on zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.
"While much progress has been made, much work is still to be done and done faster," said Burley, adding that UNAIDS has "called the world to fast-track their response to double the number of people on life-saving antiretroviral treatment by 2020 and end AIDS related deaths by 2030."
According to Burley, the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS supports this fast-track approach to help end the AIDS epidemic by 2020. The UNAID approach comprises a set of targets, known as 90-90-90, that include 90 percent of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90 percent of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90 percent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
"Encompassed in the technical assistance goals of the ELCA strategy to reach 90-90-90, is the reduction of the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS through the sharing of stories and the sharing of the gospel," said Burley.
To help ELCA congregations and groups learn more about the epidemic and how the ELCA accompanies those living with HIV and AIDS, the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS has created a toolkit that provides resources for worship and education about HIV and AIDS.
"In 2016 the ELCA Strategy on HIV and AIDS will focus specifically on ensuring that all ELCA members know their HIV status through testing campaigns; that all ELCA congregations are more inclusive of people living with HIV and key populations at risk for HIV infection," said Burley who added that the strategy will also focus on fundraising and promoting pre-exposure prophylaxis, a prevention option for people who are at high risk of getting HIV.
Information about the resources is available at www.elca.org/News-and-Events/blogs/ELCAWorldHunger/676.
Information on the ELCA's strategy for HIV and AIDS is available at www.ELCA.org/Our-Work/Relief-and-Development/HIV-AIDS-Ministry.
The ELCA's social message on AIDS, "AIDS and the Church's Ministry of Caring," is available at www.ELCA.org/aids.