Ways and means of combating the deadly virus of HIV was singled out by Botswana President Festus Mogae during his opening address to a youth conference in Gaborone, Botswana, December 27, 2000.

Organized by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Eastern-Africa region, the event brought 3,000 delegates from Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, with the objective “to empower young people to face issues of life positively,” according to organizers.

“There is no greater tragedy that has hit the world than the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic,” said Dr. Allan Handysides, director of health ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide. Commenting about the conference, he said “this is an issue that the church has recognized as a problem. The difficulty is that it’s not a simple problem.”

“The complexity is seen in the fact that it is tied in with poverty, social issues and migration of populations. All of these issues make the devising of a program very, very difficult,” he said. 

Mogae noted the fact that the majority of Adventist believers in Eastern Africa are young people.  “Undoubtedly this is a source of satisfaction and hope for the future of the Adventist Church,” he said in appreciation for the church’s involvement with such issues as combating AIDS. He observed that the conference was one of the ways in which the faithful demonstrate their love for fellow human beings and undertake concrete measures to express their solidarity.

“One of the main challenges facing us today in combating HIV and AIDS,” said Mogae, “is how to change behavior and attitudes of people in a manner that would reduce the current rate of HIV. I am pleased to note that this convention will address ways and means of fighting against this deadly virus.”

Dr. Pardon Mwansa, president of the Eastern Africa region of the Adventist Church, observed that the environment in which today’s young people live is fraught with a high level of crime, poverty, and disease.  “Therefore, the youth must learn skills and acquire knowledge that will help them to exist in such a hostile environment,” Mwansa stated.

Handysides believes that “there has to be a multi-factorial approach to combating the disease. Through hospitals and clinics, we’re doing a fantastic amount of education, but education is a slow process.” He commended the conference organizers for taking steps in such areas as prevention awareness among the young people. He also singled out a need to continue probing into effective ways to “prevent the spread of AIDS to the unborn child.”

During the evening program, several hundred young people crowded the conference platform during a healing session.  Moved to tears, the conference coordinator, Dr. Saustin Mfune, noted that “this is an honest confession of the pain our young people are going through.”  Mfune further observed that a sampling of the prayer requests submitted by the young people revealed that some 30 percent were needing prayer for healing from the AIDS disease.

The countries of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, and Malawi have the highest number of HIV infections in the world in relation to the percentage of their populations.