A concerted effort and not political point-scoring is needed to win the fight against HIV and Aids, the South African Council of Churches (SACC) said on Friday.
”If you consider that the Centre for Actuarial Research estimates that more than 2,5-million people would become infected by 2010, then you certainly must accept that we have a crisis on our hands,” said Reverend Teboho Klaas, director of the SACC’s health and HIV unit.
The biggest challenge facing the church, said Klaas, is to support all efforts aimed at fighting the pandemic, and not allow church dogma and church morality to cloud the reality of the pandemic.
Referring to a microbicidal gel still being tested, which could kill or inactivate HIV cells during sexual intercourse, the SACC said it is optimistic about new research on combating the pandemic.
The SACC threw its weight behind the call for a march for HIV prevention, to be held in Cape Town on Sunday.
Supporting the march were the Treatment Action Campaign, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union and the Rural Aids and Development Action Research Programme. — Sapa