World AIDS day is coming up on Friday, December 1, and the United Nations has issued an update that indicates World's AIDS epidemic is getting worse. Here is an excerpt from the report via the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life:
Religious leaders, citing a new report by the United Nations, are cautiously optimistic that the moral and political will to fight the pandemic is being finally being mobilized.
The statistics, however, are sobering, and religious groups vow to keep pushing politicians toward increased action -- and spending -- against the disease.
The U.N.'s 2006 AIDS Epidemic Update said the HIV epidemic is growing, with an estimated 39.5 million people worldwide infected with the deadly virus. In addition, the report said:
-- 2.3 million of those living with HIV are children under the age of 15.
-- 4.3 million became newly infected last year, 530,000 of them children.
-- 2.9 million died of AIDS-related illnesses, 380,000 of them children.
Let's pray that reports like this and events like the conference Pastor Rick Warren (author of "The Purpose Driven Life") is holding will continue to raise world-wide awareness and encourage churches to mobilize their resources to save lives.
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I believe that this pandemic is a great indicator of why abstinence-only education is unrealistic and grossly ineffective, especially in countries where abstinence training is not part of the cultural norm. The HIV drug companies are also at least partially to blame. As I am sure many have noticed, through misleading advertising, they (the drug companies) portray a life with HIV and their drug treatments to be an idyllic experience with no harsh side effects. I've known several folks suffering with HIV who can tell you quite the contrary. Consumers really need to become more savvy and do their own research. The people who advertise these products are primarily acting out of self-interest and can not be trusted to be purveyors of the whole truth.
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