Turning the crisis into an opportunity

Several programs were sustained by the cooperation of the United States government, particularly those created for most vulnerable populations—for example, peer counsellors and mentor mothers for young women living with HIV who are pregnant.

The World Council of Churches immediately adjusted its programmatic work in order to support and accompany churches, faith partners, and diverse communities in the navigation of this crisis. We designed and enabled four moments of conversations with religious leaders and communities: 

• Catharsis to lament all the loss (medications, vaccines and research trials, programs, human resources, and a sense of assurance).
• Analysis, finding the deep causes of the crisis and realizing how much we contributed to the situation.
• Realization of the moment we live in and of the resources that are in our hands. We used the story of Mathew 14:13-21, where thousands listen to Jesus and it is late; the disciples want to send people to their homes but Jesus tells them that they should feed the crowd. The disciples argue there is no place to buy enough food for so many people. One young boy has two fishes and five loaves of bread; Jesus prays and more than 5,000 people ate with satisfaction. As in the story of this young boy, what we have on our hands today is a lot; let us realize it and see that it includes resources, knowledge, experience, resilience, love, courage, and hope.
• Strategizing where we decided on concrete steps to navigate the crisis and turn it into an opportunity. 

As a result of these conversations, key strategies emerged, some are listed below:

• Put communities at the centre of any response. We have to see beyond the microscope (beyond the virus, parasite, or bacteria); we must see the person, the community, and the faith community which must become our healing sanctuary.
• Retake the healing ministry of the church and the prophetic role, which today means calling governments of the world to sustain international solidarity; we have to care for the life and wellbeing of our brothers and sisters. This is what God asked us to do. "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." – Matthew 25:40
• Identify sustainable sources of funding that would integrate the programs formerly paid through international cooperation.

The funding crisis presents as the most immediate, which could have short- and long-term consequences, particularly in the HIV response. Religious leaders and communities called upon governments of developed countries to continue investing in the Global Fund partnership as the Eight Replenishment campaign begins. The Global Fund is asking USD 18 billion which will ensure saving an additional 23 million lives, preventing 400 million new infections/cases, cutting the combined death toll of the three diseases from 2.3 million in 2023 to 920,000 in 2029, and delivering a return investment of $19 dollars for every dollar invested. Please see here the investment case for the Eighth Replenishment Investment Case - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

In addition, this investment would free healthcare services for other health priorities, and advance progress towards the elimination goals set by the international community for 2030. Countries would be more prepared for pandemic response and would strengthen health and community systems; innovations would be adopted and scaled up. The inequity gaps in healthcare and poverty due to disease burden would be reduced.

Religious leaders and diverse communities, we call on our governments to increase domestic funding for health and for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria specifically.

See our statement in this link: 8th Replenishment GF Signed

The WCC central committee, which convened in June in Johannesburg, South Africa, released a public statement for churches and faith communities to take action to respond to the threats to public health, which is available below.

Call to Act on Threats to Public Health | World Council of Churches

The health of our countries is the wealth of our nations.