Abstinence Education Curbing AID

Church Programs Effective, Says Official

KOENIGSTEIN, Germany, MAY 29, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The Church has helped Zambia to turn the corner in the fight against HIV and it has done so by upholding its traditional teachings, says a Ndola Diocese official.

"Meanwhile, the government has done too little, too late," said Father Alick Mbanda, chancellor of the Zambian diocese, in an interview during a recent visit to the headquarters of the charity Aid to the Church in Need.

He explained how Catholic-run programs to combat HIV had been vital in bringing about a long-awaited downturn in the number of people infected with the virus.

HIV is at epidemic levels in Zambia, where an estimated 1.2 million people are infected out of a population of 11 million.

Strategies

Father Mbanda described how the Church had tackled the crisis by distributing anti-HIV medicine and had successfully taught abstinence by integrating AIDS awareness into catechetical programs. With a community of lay leaders, the Church has devised youth catechetical programs in which the risk of HIV is spelled out, especially from casual sex.

Church leaders encourage people planning marriage to have HIV-related tests first.

For victims of the virus, the bishops are devising plans for a "farm" -- a center providing accommodation, welfare support and medication.

"Of late, we have at last begun to see a bit of progress," said Father Mbanda. "The numbers of people infected with HIV have not been going up and, because of the campaign, the numbers are finally coming down."

The priest stressed the importance of the Zambian bishops' opposition to contraception and insistence on abstinence.

"We have some NGOs saying that people should use condoms but the problem with that is that condoms give people some leeway for casual sex," he said. "In actual fact, it encourages the problem."

The priest also underlined the importance of faith in action: "We cannot just preach about the Gospel and talk about the Mass without living it. It becomes difficult to live the Gospel and to preach it if we don't connect with the problems of our times."

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