Wednesday, January 10, 2007

S.T.O.P. not S.L.O.W. is key to ending AIDS

"Only the church has the authority to completely eradicate AIDS," said Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church. (...) Recapping the four most popular methods to combating AIDS using the acrostic “SLOW,” Warren said the S stands for supply condoms.(...)[t]he L in SLOW stands for limiting the number of partners,(...) [t]he O in SLOW is offer needle exchange,(...) [and t]he W in SLOW is wait [i.e. delay] for the first onset of sex, Warren noted.“Those are the four most popular methods to AIDS prevention, and they will work to a degree,” he said.


“But if you want to stop it, now you have to bring in the church.”Warren proposed a new acrostic in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Using the word “STOP,” : (...) “S is save sex for marriage,(...) “T is teach men to respect women and children.


The O in STOP is to offer treatment through churches, Warren said. Calling on his experiences in setting up AIDS ministries in Rwanda, he said there are only three hospitals(...) two of which are church-based. Out of the 16 clinics in Rwanda, only two of them are government-based. Yet, the country has 836 churches.“So even in the hospitals, the churches were doing most of the work,” Warren said. “Which is the most likely –- if you have to get your refills, wouldn’t you like to get them at the closest church rather than a two-days’ walk? There are millions of villages where all they have in it is a church. And so we would have to offer treatment through churches.”


The P in STOP is pledge yourself to one partner for life, Warren said. (...) "


1 comment:

rach said...

Hi Celal

Sorry I can't suggest any accommodation in Paris - I've never been! We stay with friends when we go to Tenerife so finding good places to stay isn't really my strong point.

Rach