Keep praying for sufferers of HIV and AIDS

Keep praying for sufferers of HIV and AIDS

A Zambian HIV worker is appealing to Christians around the world to keep praying for sufferers of HIV and AIDS.Hope Siwale, of the Tearfund-supported EFZ Christian charity, said she feared that the shortfall in the Global Fund to treat HIV, tuberculosis and malaria could reverse many of the advances in treating the disease and put additional pressure on governments and churches in developing nations.

The Global Fund is a major provider of anti-retroviral drugs but according to Tearfund, it lacks sufficient funds to continue its current level of work over the next three years. The development agency said that demand for ARVs was outstripping supply and that two in three sufferers around the world were still without access.

Mrs Siwale said the effect of funding shortages at the community level would not be good.

“We have seen positive things and lives changed from people who were on the edge of dying and then living again and becoming productive again and active in the community,” she said.

“If funding continues to go down or fall below what is needed means there will be even more pressure on the Zambian government and the church to be there.”

Around the world, people are marking World AIDS Day ON DECEMBER 1 with campaigning and awareness raising on behalf of the 33.3 million living with HIV.