Letter to Prime Minister Harper: HIV/AIDS

Dear Prime Minister Harper:

As national leaders of Canadian Churches and members of the Canadian Council of Churches, we are extremely concerned about the human impact of the global AIDS pandemic. Currently more than 40 million people are infected with HIV. Last year, over 3 million people died as a result of AIDS. There are 15 million child orphans because of AIDS. These statistics speak powerfully to the human cost.

Our first response to the depth of this tragedy is compassion. We suffer with those who suffer, and work to ease that suffering. We support the many members of our Churches who dedicate themselves to caring for persons living with HIV and AIDS.

Compassion and care alone are not enough. This threat to life is, at its core, an issue of faith. We believe in the fullness of life for all human beings for they are the bearers of the image of God. Our mandate to proclaim the good news of God in Christ compels us to action to address the issues at the root of this pandemic—the source of so much suffering and death. Until we transform the structures that contribute to the spread of AIDS, the crisis will continue. For us the call of Isaiah 58 “to break the bonds of injustice and to set free the oppressed” rings out clearly in this moment. The world can wait no longer for action to end HIV and AIDS.