Published: March 4, 2005
The Balm In Gilead, Inc.(TM) Mobilizes 16th Annual
Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS
March 6-12, 2005
Congressman Mel Watt, National Medical Association's Dr. Winston Price, Journalist George Curry, Gospel Legend Bobby Jones and National Nurses Association Dr. Betty Lewis Lead Thousands of Churches in Nation's Largest AIDS Awareness Campaign Targeting African Americans
NEW YORK, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Next week, thousands of faith institutions across the nation will participate in the largest AIDS awareness campaign targeting the African American faith community when the 16th annual national observance of The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS begins Sunday, March 6 through Saturday, March 12, 2005.
Organized by The Balm In Gilead, The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS is the organization's flagship campaign that works with thousands of faith institutions to champion AIDS awareness, prevention and education in the African American community. "The horrendous HIV/AIDS epidemic among African Americans is growing and who cares?" said Pernessa Seele, Founder and CEO, The Balm In Gilead. "This is the fundamental question that we are asking our religious, civic and political leadership as well as all African Americans today. The answer is, we have to. We must care."
The Balm In Gilead has joined forces with some of the nation's most prominent leaders to help spread the word on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and awareness. This year's national spokespeople are: Mel Watt, Congressman and Congressional Black Caucus Chair; Dr. Winston Price, President, National Medical Association; George Curry, Publisher, National Newspapers Publishers Association; Dr. Betty Davis Lewis, President, National Nurses Association and Gospel Singer Bobby Jones. "I am eager to help The Balm In Gilead continue its mission of mobilizing our faith communities to be at the forefront of addressing HIV/AIDS in the African American community," said Watt, Congressman for North Carolina's 12th District.
Since its inception in 1989, The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS has engaged Black Churches to become centers for education, compassion and care in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The organization is encouraging Black churches across the United States to host educational workshops, seminars, prayer vigils, or simply distribute information during the Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS.
Churches are also being encouraged to assist in getting more African Americans to take the HIV test and to give compassionate care and support to persons living with HIV. Today, many churches in both rural and urban African American communities have begun an appropriate response to the AIDS epidemic.
The Balm In Gilead's Faith-Based HIV/AIDS Capacity Building Model has resulted in the development of many congregational-based HIV/AIDS programs. These congregational programmatic responses range from consistent distribution of brochures during Sunday Morning worship to full-scale direct HIV service programs.
"It is during this week, that our churches raise the awareness of millions of African Americans about the crisis of AIDS in our community and the role of our churches in fighting HIV/AIDS is critical to overcoming the stigma and fear that continues to keep so many of us in darkness when addressing HIV/AIDS," Congressman Watt added.
National Medical Association President Dr. Winston Price, adds, "We need to offer a barrage of preventive measures that include community planning, counseling, testing and evaluation. Most importantly, we must provide potent and repeated messages about the insidious reality of HIV/AIDS and its devastating impact right here at home." He added, "We at the National Medical Association will continue to show our support in any way possible in addition to providing literature and the educational programs that we currently sponsor."
Embarking upon its 16th straight year of observance, The Balm In Gilead is specifically turning its focus on educating African American women on their high rate of risk to this disease. In addition, the organization is calling on every Black religious leader to be a voice in this fight and to make HIV/AIDS education and related issues a top priority within their congregations and communities.
This year's event could not come at a more appropriate time. Several weeks ago, some major health experts recommended that virtually all Americans be tested routinely for HIV disease. This guidance is especially important to African-Americans whose rate of infection has exploded over the past decade.
According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, AIDS is the fourth-leading cause of death among women in this country between the ages of 25 and 44, and is the leading cause of death among African American women ages 25 to 34. HIV infection has been designated the fifth largest leading cause of death for people 25-44 years old in the United States, and the leading cause of death for African-American men ages 35-44. As reported in the HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report (2002), Vol. 14, African Americans accounted for the majority (54%) of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2002. The rate of AIDS cases among African American adults or adolescents (76.4 per 100,000) was nearly 11 times greater than that of Whites (7.0 per 100,000) and nearly three times that of Latinos (26.0 per 100,000) in 2002.
The Balm In Gilead is a 501(c) (3), not-for-profit organization based in New York City whose mission is to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the African Diaspora by building the capacity of faith communities to provide education, services and support networks for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. As The Balm In Gilead continues its work in the African American faith community, the organization has expanded its services to build the capacity of faith communities in Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS was sponsored in part by Abbott Laboratories. To find out how your church can get involved in The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS, log onto the organization's website at http://www.balmingilead.org.
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