The world’s first HIV positive sperm bank has been launched in an effort to reduce the stigma experienced by those living with the virus. Sperm Positive has begun with three male donors from across New Zealand who are living with HIV but have an undetectable viral load, meaning the amount of the virus in a Read more
Posts Tagged ‘HIV’
Children with HIV and AIDS need help
Monday, June 19th, 2017Children with HIV and AIDS need better treatment like easier to swallow drugs say the World Council of Churches and many of Kenya’s faith leaders. They are challenging pharmaceutical companies to step up and help. The situation for very sick children in Kenya is bad, the church and faith leaders say. They estimate 26,000 children Read more
Franciscan brother cares for those with HIV AIDS in Papua
Friday, May 6th, 2016
When Dewi was diagnosed with HIV in 2009, her life became miserable. “My family couldn’t accept my condition,” Dewi, not her real name, says in reference to the virus that affected her immune system. Following her diagnosis, Dewi underwent medical treatment for two weeks in Jayapura diocese-run Dian Harapan Hospital in Jayapura, Papua province. It was there Read more
Churches can do more to prevent domestic violence
Tuesday, December 16th, 2014
Issues such as gender-based violence and HIV can be taboo topics in some communities and behavioural change requires more than just awareness of the problems, says a country director with the British Council New Zealand, Ingrid Leary. She says churches are the major influences of behaviour and some can do much more to lead on Read more
The enemy is AIDS, not those who live with it
Tuesday, July 29th, 2014
While some groups still believe that people infected with HIV should be stigmatised as a deterrent, the majority view at this month’s International AIDS Conference in Melbourne is that victims and the social groups to which they belong must be empowered. The media is being encouraged to listen to stories such as Sarah’s: ‘As a Read more
Pacific anti-gay sex laws impede HIV prevention, reformers say
Tuesday, July 29th, 2014
Concerns have been expressed that laws against consensual sex between men in the Pacific region are undermining efforts to prevent and treat HIV. An international Aids conference in Melbourne last week was told about the problematic results of such laws. But men having sex with men remains illegal in more than one-third of all Pacific Read more
HIV orphans: the tragedy
Friday, July 25th, 2014
As many as 200,000 children are dying unnecessarily of AIDS each year in Asia and Africa because of the ignorance and stigma surrounding HIV, the virus that causes the illness. Even though HIV is now classified as a manageable chronic illness, these children are being shunned and literally left to die on the street or Read more
AIDs patients in India turn to Catholic care
Friday, April 4th, 2014In Andhra Pradesh state in India, patients with AIDs have suffered discrimination in state-run hospitals and have turned to Catholic health centres. “When government hospitals refuse to treat these patients, the poor ones turn to nongovernment organisations and religious charities like Karunalayam, a Roman Catholic mission in Warangal,” stated a New York Times report. Continue Read more
Final Resolutions from Pacific Conference of Churches
Friday, March 15th, 2013
The Pacific Conference of Churches, at the end of its tenth Assembly has passed resolutions about the following topics: Tahiti independence West Papua independence Freedom Sunday Nuclear testing Seabed mining Solidarity on mining Tourism, fishing and forestry Facilitating the concerns of members by engaging on the issue with agencies such as the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Read more
Fiji – Religious leaders disagree on call to legalise prostitution
Friday, November 30th, 2012
Two senior ministers in Fiji’s Methodist Church have different views about a suggestion that the government legalise prostitution. Reverend Tuikilakila Waqairatu, the incoming president of the Church, is opposed to any move to legalise prostitution while Reverend Tevita Nawadra, who replaces him as general secretary, says he is in favour “Personally and, I think, the position Read more