WORLD AIDS DAY MESSAGE BY CATHOLIC HEALTH COMMISSION-English

HANDS UP FOR HIV PREVENTION: JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO END THE AIDS EPIDEMIC
– Never be tired of doing what is right- (2 Thess. 3:13)
2016 HIV and AIDS Message to All
From ECM Health Commission

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Today in the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church is the first Sunday of Advent. The Church begins a new Liturgical Year, a new journey of faith. As the Church begins a new Liturgical Year, she joins the rest of the world in commemorating the World AIDS Day.
World AIDS Day, observed on 1 December each year, is a global initiative to raise the awareness, fight prejudice, and improve education about HIV and AIDS. It is an important opportunity when governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals around the world bring attention to the HIV epidemic and emphasize the critical need for a committed, meaningful and sustained response. As Christians, World AIDS Day provides us with precious moments to reflect on HIV and AIDS, and our role in the response to the epidemic.
In this year’s commemoration, we reflect on the theme “Hands Up for HIV Prevention”. This year’s theme challenges us to reflect on our role, as a Church and individuals, in the efforts to ending the HIV epidemic by 2030 as HIV prevention is key to ending the epidemic.

1.1 Hands up for HIV Prevention
In Malawi, the number of new HIV infections has reduced from 42,000 in 2014 to 33,000 (2015 HIV estimates). However the decline of new HIV infections among adults worldwide has stalled. If the world is to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, HIV prevention efforts must be reinvigorated.
Hands up for HIV prevention is a campaign aimed at exploring the different aspects of HIV prevention and how they relate to different groups of people. It calls for all of us to raise hands and repower the HIV prevention interventions.

2.0 A call to action
In recognition of this year’s World AIDS Day theme, the Catholic Health Commission calls upon the Clergy, the lay faithful and all people of goodwill to make this World AIDS Day different. Different structures of the Church can take an active role in the Hands up for HIV prevention by:
• Getting tested for HIV. The only way to know if one has HIV or not is to get tested. HIV testing is available in most facilities for free;
• Encouraging fellow Christians to go for HIV testing and counselling;
• Adhering to treatment. HIV treatment is very critical to ending the AIDS epidemic and making transmission rare;
• Initiating and implementing programmes that promote abstinence for the youth;
• Advocating for mutual faithfulness to married couples;
• Facilitating discussions around issues of sex and sexuality with the youths;
• Integrating issues of HIV and AIDS especially prevention in all pastoral activities;
• Investing in the capacity building of pastoral counsellors;
• Organizing pastoral counselling training for Church leaders, members and community leaders;
• Organizing open days of various groups at parish level;
• Facilitating formation of youth clubs;
• Talking openly on sex education, sexuality and HIV and AIDS within the family.

Let us all join the Hands up Campaign. Let us raise our hands and repower HIV prevention to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030!