medicine

Interview

A Critical Moment for HIV/AIDS in Africa

Q&A with Elias Bongmba

by John Shorb

Written by John Shorb on December 12, 2014

John Shorb

John Shorb is the founder of Church Health Reader and served as editor from 2008-2011. He is a visual artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Visit him online at johnshorb.com.

See all articles by John Shorb.

A Critical Moment for HIV/AIDS in Africa: Q&A with Elias Bongmba
BY JOHN SHORB

Elias Bongmba holds the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Chair in Christian Theology and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University and is the author of Facing a Pandemic: The African Church and the Crisis of HIV/AIDS. Church Health Reader spoke with Dr. Bongmba about the role and responsibility of the church in ministering with those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

John Shorb: From what you’ve seen, what do you see as the state of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa?

Elias Bongmba: We have reached what I consider a crucial time in the struggle against HIV/AIDS for a number of reasons. First, I think so much money has been poured into fighting HIV/AIDS and this begins with huge institutions like the World Health Organization, the joint United Nations program to combat AIDS, UN AIDS, but it also includes foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates and President Clinton’s foundation. In addition, a number of international Christian organizations have been doing a lot. It is clear that everyone understands the magnitude of the problem.

I call it a critical moment or actually a defining moment because while the statistics have dropped in some African countries (Uganda, East Africa and so forth), we are noticing that it has not changed significantly. In some countries there are new infections every year. Globally, the estimate is like 2.7 million new infections every year, out of which 430,000 or so are children. We are dealing with something that continues to grow. What makes it difficult and challenging is that almost 40% of the people who are infected do not know that they are infected. We have the scenario for an ongoing catastrophe. This means that all that are involved in fighting the HIV pandemic need to sit down, reconsider what has been accomplished and see ways in which the global community can move forward to begin to address this.

My fear is that we may also be at a point in Africa where people are beginning to think that this disease is normal. People have come to terms with the fact that we have a disease that is incurable. It has become a fact of life and there is nothing much we can do about it. I think that is the danger.

What approach do you think works best in the face of this danger?

We should refocus our efforts on prevention and treatment. Treatment is wonderful, but if you look at the nearly 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS, it is estimated that only 5 million are receiving any kind of treatment. So prevention is a key issue. The resources of religious communities could be channeled much more effectively in terms of prevention. Despite all of the advances we have made and despite how much we know about the disease, we are still at the crucial point. If we drop the ball now, it will be difficult to pick it up.

What have you seen in churches on the ground there that has been effective? Have you encountered any effective models of how people have addressed the issue there?

When I was in Kampala, Uganda recently, we visited a community project in Kamokya, a suburb of Kampala, which provides counseling, help, and assistance to people who are infected and affected. This community is affiliated with a Catholic church, and from the beginning they provided not only HIV counseling and care, addressed other health issues. They now provide education for the children and they have an “active youth” program where young people are brought together and encouraged to practice safe behavior. They have several counselors, a lot of them elderly women, many of them who have gone through the crisis through the loss of a child or a relative. They volunteer their time for counseling, and make sure that no one is left to suffer alone. I thought that it was an effective strategy.

What do you see from within the church, what do you see as a theological approach that seems to resonate when trying to reach people about this issue?

In my own studies, which in this case came out of Cameroon, I focused specifically on the image of God. The groups in Cameroon that I wanted to work with did not like to expose people living with AIDS or their patients to outside researchers a lot because the level of stigmatization that was growing in the country at the time. The Hebrew scriptures and the church affirms that people are created in the image of God. The fact that that image is battered now by an illness like this invites the church to think, “What does it mean to be created in the image of God?” “What does it mean to suffer in this image?” “What does it mean in our social and communal relationships that we have a large section of our community that is affected by this disease?” To me, it was clear at that time that compassion, love, and so forth invited the church to remain engaged in this problem. Many places in the New Testament talk about ways in which one can comfort one another. This invites religious communities into action at a time like this. We are dealing with something which churches need to pay attention to because it affects their fellow human being.

Finally, one thinks about the need to establish justice in society, not considered primarily as a right but as a way of being fair to one another. This is where the church needs to do a lot of work, particularly with state leaders to make sure that the state puts in place not only procedures but actively engages people in the community on prevention and treatment. The church should make it clear to state leaders that this is their obligation. The church, with its people and its long history of involvement, can continue to mount such advocacy on behalf of people who are suffering or people who have been affected by this disease.

How can churches in the United States take part in this work? I’m wondering how you think that’s best done or if you think it should be done at all.

Churches need to think together as groups and pull their resources together to be most effective. There are a few points that churches could specifically think about:

Work with the African churches and bring advocates to train people on the realities of HIV/AIDS, making sure that prevention remains central
Pay attention to the needs of women and children. There’s a large orphan community in every African country. Women are dealing with a lot of social/structural issues they cannot navigate. It’s not just a matter of throwing money at them; it is a matter of working with them. We need to understand what their needs are and then work with the local churches to train women and support them to find ways in which they can assert themselves.
Make sure any financial assistance targets a specific goal, like the acquisition of medication.
Find ways of supporting theological education that would teach the pastors to work with different communities.

The bottom line actually is that the African churches cannot do it alone: they need to work with the global community. But U.S. churches should not just get in there, do their thing, and come back. Churches need to keep an ongoing conversation with those who are on the ground, in order to work out better strategies.

Is there any advice you would give, say someone was just appointed over an HIV/AIDS campaign or ministry on a larger scale, what would be your advice to that person in this particular moment?

My advice would be actually to take it seriously. What I mean is that they should look at what can be accomplished in fighting AIDS through a broad program that involves primary health care. Number two, they should create a continual program that provides education: awareness of the disease, awareness of how to address it and how to stay safe. Then certainly to begin to work with the African churches and other global leaders in fighting HIV to network so that there is no duplication of resources. Connect with specific institutions in Africa that have a project that has an ongoing HIV and AIDS ministry. I think doing that would go a long way.

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