A short article, with photo of John Clark, one of the co-editors, announcing that the "official report of MISSIO, the Mission Commission of the world-wide Anglican Communion is now available from the Anglican Communion Office or your local bookshop". Includes brief synopsis of contents.
"We, the Anglican Communion across Africa, pledge ourselves to promise that future generations will be born and live free from AIDS". "Over 35 leaders, among them Provincial Secretaries and AIDS Co-ordinators from all the 12 African Provinces and the Diocese of Egypt, attended the weeklong workshop at the Ankrah Foundation in Mukono [from 26 January to 1 February 2003]."
"The Australian Board of Mission is continuing strong work with the Church of the Province of Myanmar in a Health Education and Prevention of Disease Program for the last ten years. The Program has been focused in border areas and works with the ethnic minority groups (Karen, Karenni, Chin and Kachin) who represents the most disadvantaged section of Myanmar society. As the impact of HIV/AIDS has grown the focus of this program has shifted to include greater emphasis on awareness. There are two main strands to this program -- prevention through the raising of awareness and care for those who are terminally ill. This project will focus on raising awareness of HIV/AIDS issues in Toungoo diocese. It will target remote communities, which include over 12,000 people and cover a wide area of Karen State, and will enable two health workers to conduct awareness sessions on HIV/AIDS issues by travelling from village to village throughout the diocese".
"The theme of this year's International AIDS Conference was `Access for All'. Special attention was being given to the role of communities in combating the AIDS epidemic. A significant dimension of community response was found in the work of faith-based organizations and the growing forms of collaboration among them". Prior to the International AIDS Conference, "the Christians, Muslims and Buddhists organized separate pre-Conference meetings for their own communities. The Pre-Conference meetings focused on workshops, sharing and discussions in the light of their particular religious teachings, principles and experiences." "The presence and involvement of faith-based actors at this particular Conference was the largest and most active to date."
Author is Manager of St. John's Cathedral HIV Education Centre in Hong Kong.