Today many people, among them Christians, still see AIDS as a sinner's disease which is beyond God's grace. This attitude continues to accelerate the spread of HIV/AIDS due to the shame and denial associated with the disease. This is especially pronounced here in Africa where in every 11 HIV infections that occur each minute worldwide, 10 are in sub-Saharan Africa.
For almost two decades, the Church was silent to this pandemic, which was taking the lives whole communities and affecting the life of the Church. Many churches viewed AIDS as God's punishment on those who led sinful lifestyles and were therefore indifferent to the ministry of those infected and affected by AIDS - including orphans.
This prompted the Primates of Anglican Communion in Africa to endorse the development of an All Africa Anglican AIDS Planning Framework, which would address itself to guiding principles that would strengthen church leadership in dealing with the scourge.
Vision: We, the Anglican Communion across Africa, pledge ourselves to promise that future generations will be born and live in a world free from AIDS.
CAPA was mandated to spearhead this programme which focuses on helping the Church address the scourge in the following key areas:
- Stigma removal - development of provincial, diocesan, and parish plans to change attitudes and remove stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.
- Behavior change - encourage responsible sexual behavior including abstinence, correct use of condoms and faithfulness to one partner.
- Family focused care - develop a family focused approach that enhances stigma removal and propels behavior change.
- Leadership - empower the clergy and laity to be effective advocates within the church, civil society and government to meet the needs of communities in their Provinces.
Statements and Papers
Below are statement and other publications relating to CAPA's HIV/AIDS programme. Click on the respective link to read an article. You will need to have Adobe Acrobat ReaderT installed on your computer to read the publications.
The Church of Nigeria : HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan and Policy 2004 - 2008
Déclaration de la réunion du conseil d'administration SIDA de CAPA Nairobi Kenya - le 19-22 août, 2002
Declaration De La Reunion Des Primats De La Communion Anglicane 2002 Sur Le VIH / SIDA
Four Year (2003 - 2007) Health Strategy Workshop Held At Kurasini Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) Hall, In Dar Es Salaam , Tanzania On July 14 th To 18 th 2003
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) HIV/AIDS Policy |
