News
The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee released a statement expressing unfaltering commitment to ending HIV and AIDS. “The HIV epidemic has been like no other,” the statement reads. "Over four decades, AIDS has caused tens of millions of deaths, devastated families and communities, and challenged scientists and doctors seeking an effective vaccine or cure.”
While we celebrate recent medical advances that have provided effective methods of prevention and treatment, the epidemic is not over yet, the statement notes.
“What has made HIV and AIDS so shattering is the deep injustice, inequality and vulnerability it has exposed in societies – and the level of silence, denial, and judgement in the face of human tragedy,” the statement reads. "The barriers to addressing the challenges of the HIV epidemic are not only access to medicine or biomedical responses but also stigma and discrimination, fear and the social determinants of health.”
The WCC Executive Committee called for an ongoing response to HIV and AIDS that focuses on people. “We acknowledge the gifts contributed by people living with HIV in educating us and enabling the medical research professionals to have more accurate evidence,” the statement reads. “Their voices and presence among us have themselves been a great gift to our communities and society.”
Statement of the WCC Executive Committee, 27 May 2019
WCC moderator and general secretary focus on Child Rights (WCC press release 22 May 2019)
WCC remembers lost colleagues (WCC press release 24 May 2019)
WCC Executive Committee convening at Bossey Ecumenical Institute, WCC press release 21 May 2019
Faith on the Fast Track: WCC's HIV Campaign
