Religious leaders at a summit ahead of the 17th International AIDS Conference urged congregations worldwide to tackle HIV/AIDS not only with physical care, but also mentally by removing the stigma that the Church had helped create.

HIV-positive religious leaders at the inaugural summit of Religious Leaders Living with HIV on Sunday asserted that church leaders are the hope for changing how communities view people with HIV, according to Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance.

“I believe that God can use HIV to heal the church,” said the Rev. J.P. Heath, acting executive director of International Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (INERELA+), which sponsored the summit on Sunday. more >>

WASHINGTON - President Bush signed legislation Wednesday that triples U.S. funding to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis around the world.

The five-year, $48 billion plan renews a program credited with saving millions of lives in Africa alone and is widely seen as one of the major achievements of the Bush presidency.

Bush said the program, launched by him in 2003, "is the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in human history." more >>

The U.S. Senate voted Thursday evening to re-authorize the multi-billion-dollar President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) bill that would help prevent contraction of HIV in Africa while providing treatment to the millions of people who are already infected.

Over the course of five years, the $48 billion PEPFAR legislation aims to prevent 12 million HIV infections and treat 3 million people. It will also provide funding for tuberculosis and malaria responses.

“We commend the lawmakers who have come together on a bi-partisan, comprehensive agreement on the Global AIDS, TB and Malaria Bill providing a much-needed increase in U.S. assistance to address the needs of millions of orphans and vulnerable children affected by these epidemics,” said Robert Zachritz, World Vision’s director of advocacy and government relations in the United States. more >>

Pro-family advocates and critics around the world expressed strong opposition this week after news spread that the nation of Brazil would begin a large scale effort to combat the spread of AIDS and STDs through the installation of condom vending machines in hundreds of its schools.

According to Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao, AIDS is a major problem among Brazilian youth with an alarming 70,000 cases of AIDS reported among Brazilians under 24.

Eduardo Barbosa, head of the National Program for Sexually Transmitted Diseases and AIDS, had explained the new development as one that would be crucial in combating AIDS and STDs. more >>

SAN FRANCISCO — Glide Foundation, a charity that offers food and assistance to low-income residents in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, was recently informed that it will receive $2.1 million in proceeds from an auction bid for lunch with Warren Buffet.

This is the ninth year that Buffet auctioned a lunch date to benefit Glide. This year's winning bid went to a Chinese hedge fund manager who paid $2,110,100 through an eBay auction that ended June 27. The charity received $650,100 from last year's auction.

Located between Ellis and Taylor, Glide Foundation serves 750,000 meals a year and provides medical services like AIDS testing and job training opportunities to the homeless and other disadvantaged people in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. It is run by Glide Memorial United Methodist Church. more >>

People who live in areas that have a larger number of Catholic and mainline Protestant churches live longer, a new study shows.

Troy C. Blanchard, an associate professor of sociology at Louisiana State University, found that mortality rates were lower in communities with these types of congregations because they have what he calls a "worldly perspective."

"Instead of solely focusing on the afterlife, they place a significant emphasis on the current needs of their communities," offered the study's author. more >>