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The struggle to reduce HIV transmission rates by promoting
faith-based HIV prevention has come of age. People are looking
for something – a method, a technique, a practice, a
belief, something! – that will reduce the transmission
of HIV/AIDS and its ravaging effects on the African American
population. To all of us on the battlefield, Trinity HIV
Prevention Services, Inc., offers a word of hope.
In I
Samuel 17, a teenage shepherd boy named David ran onto a Philistine
battlefield to confront a 9-foot giant named Goliath. Despite
overwhelming odds, David's unwavering faith in God helped
him defeat this towering enemy.
Today, HIV/AIDS is like an arrogant Goliath parading triumphantly
on the battlefield of African American communities. According
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more
African Americans are reported as having AIDS than any other
ethnic population. African American children represent 65%
of all reported pediatric AIDS cases. Of the estimated 40,000
new HIV infections each year, 64% occur among African Americans.
One in 50 African American men and 1 in 160 African American
women are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. As
the leading killer of African Americans between the ages of
25-44, AIDS accounts for more deaths than homicide, drugs,
alcohol, cancer, and heart disease, combined.1 Without doubt,
this is a grim report.
There is a brighter side: HIV infection is 100% preventable.
By acquiring and using the appropriate information, attitudes
and behaviors, African Americans can drastically reduce their chances
of becoming infected with HIV. The African American Church
is strategically positioned to help slow the spread of HIV/AIDS
with a powerful combination of faith and education.
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In the final analysis, the war against HIV/AIDS is one that
neither the Black community nor the Black Church can win alone.
Together, however, people of God can take the battlefield
as David did, shrewd, smart, and spiritually armed to confront
this contemporary Goliath, knowing that with God, victory
over even the most formidable adversary is assured. Hope is
found in the outcome of the story: Goliath lost!
Reverend Monifa A. Jumanne, Ph.D.
1 Fact Sheet: National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention
- Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention, November 2004
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