E-mail
Print
RSS
G-bookmarks
Live
Technorati“Not in a way that we would boast about,” he added, “but just in a way that would equip and enable other churches to be involved because of our involvement.”
In the United States, the annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church at Saddleback Church draws from over a thousand to more than two thousand attendees from around the world. The high-profile conference has attracted U.S. senators, presidential candidates, as well as first daughter Jenna Bush to take part and share public policy ideas and raise awareness on HIV/AIDS with church leaders.
According to the latest U.N. report, there are more than three million people worldwide have HIV – the virus which can lead to AIDS. Over two million people have died of AIDS this year alone, including 330,000 children.
Every day, some 1,000 babies are born with HIV – 90 percent of which are babies born in Africa, according to UNAIDS. Half of all new HIV infections in the world occur in children and youth. In total, 2.5 million children under the age of 15 are infected in the world.
In 2003, President Bush created the $15 billion President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) – the largest-ever international health initiative targeted at one disease – to help prevent and care for millions of people with AIDS in the hardest hit African countries.
The U.S. Congress is currently in the process of renewing PEPFAR, which expires September 2008.
