Saturday, November 28, 2015

HIV Fatigue

There is what is called "HIV fatigue". People are not interested any more. One sees it if one searches for information, too. There hasn't been much, lately. But the problem is still very big in South Africa. More than one-in-six people between the ages of 15 and 49 were HIV-positive in 2011, and well over one-in-three women between the ages of 30 and 34 were HIV-positive in 2012. There were 270 000 AIDS deaths in 2011. There were 470 000 new diagnoses in 2012. I estimated, in urban ministry, that one-in-ten of churchgoers were HIV-positive, from what I knew through my counselling. And there were children, too. So AIDS was and is commonplace in my ministry and experience. I am disturbed by this, because I have seen so many people go, whom I knew well.

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