A team of Christian doctors has announced a trip to Tanzania to combat HIV, using World AIDS Day to raise awareness among Sydney Anglicans about the pandemic.
The team, currently made up of four doctors from around Australia, will partner with the medical work of the Anglican Church in Tanzania at Mvumi Hospital.
Dr Michael Burke, a former CMS missionary and member of Dural Anglican Church, is coordinating the trip.
"The trip will be about strengthening partnerships, contributing technical assistance and provide training," he says.
Dr Burke is the Chair of the HIV Initiative of the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA) which aims to "take appropriate action" to respond to HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Currently 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV, and 2.9 million people died from AIDS last year.
"There are many opportunities for Australian Christians to respond to the crisis," Dr Burke says.
"We're called very much to look after orphans and widows, and they are a very large component of the churches and communities struggling with HIV."
The February trip will be the first of many organised under the "Partnerships in Health and Development' banner. Dr Burke hopes to make the trips annual events.
"Forming appropriate partnerships and supporting local churches in their initiatives, as well as addressing the needs of widows and orphans are the key practical ways to respond," he says.
Inaugural HIV initiative award winner announced
World AIDS Day also marks Dr Burke's announcement of the inaugural winner of the HIV Initiative's Dignity and Right to Health Award, Dr Biangtung Langkham.
Dr Langkham has worked to tackle drug use and HIV since the early 1990s, starting within the Christian community in Manipur, India, and going on to work across tribal and religious boundaries.
He focussed on harm minimisation, community empowerment and care for HIV/AIDS sufferers, and was involved in projects across northern India.
Dr Burke says that the award helps highlight and recognise the "outstanding role models and champions' fighting the global epidemic.
