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Editorial
According to the State of the World’s Children Report (2006) some 15 million children have already lost one or more parents to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Of those orphaned by AIDS, 12.1 million, or more than 80%, are in sub-Saharan Africa but the number is growing elsewhere as well. The Anglican UN office in Geneva has been working on a study on the Anglican Response to HIV/AIDS in Africa (see overleaf). It has stories of practical action and of different denominations and faith groups working together. And we need such encouragement and concerted effort in the face of the devastating effect of the pandemic, not only on the lives of the orphans, but on families and communities worldwide. As the articles which follow make clear, in some parts of the Anglican Communion the statistics are known and horrifying; in others, the known numbers are small but the problems of combating ignorance and stigma are huge. This newsletter focuses on the impact on children. The picture above, drawn by a child, shows only too clearly the impact of HIV/AIDS – a young life is turned upside down. This terror comes to those whose parents are infected and who have to cope with stigma, illness and death; to the children who have to become adults to look after their siblings; and to the children themselves infected with the virus, whether through mother-to-baby transmission or through sexual or drug abuse. Jesus, incarnate as a child, called on his followers to care for children. We, who celebrated His birth at Christmas, must give higher priority to this call.
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