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Commentary

The Feminization of AIDS: From Stigmatization to Mobilization

by the Rev. Kelvin Sauls

(February 1, 2007, GBOD) -- Black History Month is not just another opportunity to look back. Celebrating our heritage also invites us to critically look at present challenges. One such a challenge is the pandemic of HIV/AIDS. To change the course of this pandemic, we will have to do more then sing "Lift Every Voice."

We will have to do more then wear African attire and romanticize about the "underground railroad." To change the course of this pandemic, we will have to lift every hand to build a railroad of compassion and acceptance above ground.

And the faith community must lead the way! Churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques must walk in love and solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

The time has come for us, as people of faith, to be intentional about demonstrating the kind of faith that is rooted in compassion. In our walking, we can exclaim with the apostle Paul that "nothing can separate us from the love of God" - not even HIV/AIDS.

Too many lives are being lost while too many people are doing too little. The facts and fears are real and overwhelming! There is still no cure or effective vaccine.

There are more than 40,000 new infections per year. AIDS is the #1 killer of African American males, age 15 to 45. Two teenagers are infected every minute in the United States. Zero people have been cured to date!!!

HIV/AIDS is also one of the top health disparities locally, nationally, and globally. Moreover, there are signs of the "feminization" of the decease in the United States and the world.

According to a report titled, Women and HIV/AIDS: Confronting the Crisis, African American and Latino women represent less than a quarter of all women in the U.S., yet, together they make up to 80 percent of AIDS cases among women in the U.S.

Globally, there are now 17 million women and 18.8 million men between the ages of 15 and 49 living with HIV/AIDS. However, since 1985, the percentage of women among adults living with HIV/AIDS has risen from 35 percent to 48 percent.

In its 2004 report, the UNAIDS observed: "Nowhere is the epidemic's ‘feminization' more apparent than in sub-Saharan Africa, where 57 percent of adults infected are women and girls." In the face of this challenge, people of faith, are called upon to walk the talk and display compassion and care for all who are infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

To change the course of the epidemic, we must move from stigmatization to mobilization. It's time for us to take our heads out of the sand and allow our homes and congregations to become places where those who are challenged with HIV/AIDS can experience acceptance, peace, and love.

The time for lip-service is long gone. With every crisis comes an opportunity. Our opportunity is to practice hope and love through prevention, intervention, and mobilization.

Our prevention can be in the form of blunt, compelling, and innovative education forums to stem the tide of ignorance and stigmatization. Hence, our faith education must include preventative health education. Intervention opportunities can include making our congregations available as testing sites for HIV/AIDS, hosting support groups, collaborating in providing life-sustaining services for people who are infected with HIV/AIDS, and coordinating opportunities for retreat and respite.

We can mobilize our congregations, districts, and conferences to influence and direct policy on the local, nationa,l and international levels. We must fight to ensure that funding and HIV medications are available to all who need them. Accessibility is the key to turning the course of the pandemic.

My brothers and sisters with HIV/AIDS are still my brothers and sisters. Now is not the time to be a spectator. Become a participator.

Move from stigmatization to mobilization and make God's love, care, and compassion visible and viable. Remember, "nothing can separate you from the love of God" – not even HIV/AIDS!

May God’s compassion ignite us within so that we can practice a vital faith with open hearts, open minds, and open doors.

The Rev. Kelvin Sauls,a native of South Africa, serves as director of congregational development at the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.
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