Ambassador Perry's Speeches

Conference on Education and Mobilization for Religious Communities for Children Against HIV/AIDS (Feb 12, 2008)

Ladies and gentlemen, Good Morning

Thank you all for coming today.  It is heartening to see you all here to learn about this very important topic.  In every vein of life, religious leaders and educators have the potential to play a key role as leaders of influence.  Your communities put their faith in your concern for their welfare, and your presence here demonstrates to me that you truly have their safety and wellbeing at heart.

Last year, over two and a half million children worldwide lived with aids, and 330,000 died from it.   That means over 300,000 children who will not have the opportunities that you and I have had to make an impact in the world.  A child becoming infected with AIDS is especially disturbing because they are nearly always unwitting or unwillingly involved in their own infections.  Mother to child transmission is almost entirely preventable by the use of anti-retroviral treatments.  The other ways that children contract HIV are more horrifying, and equally preventable.

Yet with all of this knowledge, the treatment and prevention programs focused on children are far fewer and not as well-funded as those that focus on adults.  Medicines are developed with adults in mind, so the dosage for children is complex.   Doctors (versus few doctors) specializing in pediatric HIV are few.

Though the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the United States has begun to commit resources, money and attention to improving and strengthening HIV/AIDS programs for children, but the work is far from completed.

Your role as religious leaders is crucial at every phase of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.  Your ability to lessen stigma by welcoming those with HIV into your communities is crucial.  Your educational capacity can arm your communities with the knowledge necessary to avoid putting themselves at risk, including education for children.  Your orphanages and schools can open their doors to children orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS, or infected themselves.  Your hospitals can ensure that women with child receive the anti-retroviral drug nevarapine, which is one of the most effective ways of preventing mother-to-child transmission.  Distribution and education on the proper use of condoms is also crucial to containing HIV, even more important among populations that tend to have multiple partners at a given time.

As religious leaders and educators, you also have the potential to counteract harmful misinformation.  Many people around the world continue to believe that HIV/AIDS can be cured through having sex with a girl who is a virgin.  This horrible myth has caused many adults around the world to infect children with HIV through no fault of the child.  Increasing rates of HIV in children are often associated with rape, sexual assault and/or sexual violence. The sexual exploitation of children should be a topic of open discussion in your churches and mosques, schools and community centers.  Only when society is open and receptive to discussions of this type, will infection rates begin to drop.

Children are the foundation of a strong nation and the guardians of the future of the country.  Religious organizations like yours can make a difference in the education, protection, and, when necessary, treatment of children affected by or infected with HIV.  The United States government is committed to helping your protect your children.  Thank you again for coming to this symposium.