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The blight of HIV/AIDS is worse than ever. Fresh estimates reveal that 1.2 percent of the world's population (age 15-49) is infected with HIV/AIDS. That's 74 million people. But in southern Africa, the rate is 18 times higher at 21.6 percent, giving the region the dreadful distinction of being the world's most infected area with nearly 11 million people with HIV/AIDS.

This deadly virus takes the strong and leaves the weak. In African families, when both parents have died, millions of orphaned brothers and sisters rely on grandparents or other blood relatives, or they fend for themselves. But tragically, the motivations of some relatives are not pure. "We get a lot of cases of property grabbing where family members … leave the children with nothing," a Botswana social worker said recently in comments to the Johannesburg news media.

HIV/AIDS is growing rapidly in many nations that have had a low rate of infection. The CIA's National Intelligence Council reported that the "next wave" will occur in Nigeria, Ethiopia, India, Russia, and China, which collectively represent 40 percent of the global population. More startling was the council's frank admission: "Avoidance of high-risk behavior is the only proven way to prevent the disease." This conclusion goes counter to 20 years of failed attempts to fight HIV/AIDS, mostly with billions upon billions of low-cost condoms (rarely used consistently) and costly drug cocktails (hard to administer and distribute fairly).

Christians in North America should note the sea change that is taking place in the public health community about HIV/AIDS prevention, opening a historic opportunity for outreach. New field research in Uganda, Senegal, and Jamaica shows that the spread of HIV/AIDS can be sharply reduced by:

• Delaying the age of "sexual debut" (when an individual first becomes sexually active).
  
  
• Reducing the number of sexual partners people have. In Christian terms, that means saving sex until you are married, and then remaining faithful to your spouse. "Zero grazing" is how church leaders in Uganda colorfully describe these standards at village-level workshops.
  
  

Edward C. Green, associated with the Harvard School of Public Health, has written a paper ("What Happened in Uganda?") based on his field research. Green notes that public health agencies have mostly paid lip service to the so-called A-B-C (Abstain, Be Faithful, or use a Condom) strategy. Globally, public-health officials have put far too much emphasis on condoms and drugs. Green says those two methods do not motivate "primary behavior change," in the same way as abstinence before marriage and marital fidelity.

Commenting on HIV/AIDS, Samaritan's Purse president Franklin Graham told Christianity Today, "The number one obstacle is the world's concept: Just give me a billion condoms and we can solve this issue."

But Graham went on to suggest another problem, this one with the church: "What the world wants to do is to continue in their sinful lifestyle. The church is sitting back, saying, 'I told you so. If you all would keep your pants zipped up, then there wouldn't be any of these problems' " (See "Jesus Freak," p. 58).

Fortunately, more Christians and their churches have stepped forward to care for the sick, the dying, and their children. Now that HIV/AIDS is out of control across the world, churches—especially in North America—have much more to do beyond caring for those already infected.

"Faith-based organizations are best positioned of any group to promote fidelity and abstinence," says Green. "There are insufficient programs directed at partner reduction and delay of sexual debut among youth. [Faith-based organizations] remain an untapped potential."

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November 18 2002, Vol. 46, No. 12