Reports: Shanghai to provide free Aids treatment for needy

Programme Review and Programme Direction

Two key deliberative sessions during the 15th CCA General Assembly are the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions.

The Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions will both be conducted in three groups relating to the CCA’s programme areas, namely, (i) General Secretariat (GS), (ii) Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF); and (iii) Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia (PD).

Assembly participants will have the option to join one of three groups for both the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions. For the sake of coherence, the assigned group will remain the same for both sessions.

General Secretariat

The General Secretariat oversees the coordination of programmatic, administrative, and financial activities of the organization. The GS comprises various departments such as church and ecumenical relations, relations with ecumenical partners, finance, administration, and communications, which provide crucial support and services for the implementation of programs and contribute to the overall functioning of the CCA.

Programmes: Relations with member churches and councils, ecumenical partners; advocacy at the United Nations; ecumenical responses to emerging issues in solidarity; income development and finance; and communications.

Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)

Under the MU programme area, the CCA accompanies Asian churches to strengthen their mission and witness in multi-religious contexts, revitalise and nurture church unity and the Asian ecumenical movement, and develop contextual theological foundations.

Programmes: Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU); Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS); Asian women doing theology in the context of wider ecumenism; contextualisation of theology in Asia and ecumenical theological education.

The EF programme area focuses on nurturing and developing ecumenical leaders in Asia. The programme aims to enhance spiritual formation and theological understanding, enabling people to actively engage in ecumenical dialogue and collaboration.

Programmes: Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia (EETA); Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI); Youth and Women Leadership Development; Ecumenical Spirituality and Nurturing of Contextual Liturgical Traditions; Asia Sunday

Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)

The BP programme area is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and reconciliation in Asia’s diverse contexts. Through training, advocacy, and dialogue, the programme addresses the root causes of conflicts, empowers communities, and fosters sustainable peacebuilding initiatives.

Programmes: Pastoral Solidarity Visits; Churches in Action for Moving Beyond Conflict and Resolution; Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA); Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence (EWAAV); Eco-Justice for Sustainable Peace in the Oikos.

The PD programme area focuses on promoting justice, human rights, and social transformation in Asia. Through advocacy, capacity-building, and raising awareness, the programme addresses systemic injustice, empowers marginalised communities, and advocates for prophetic actions and meaningful change.

Programmes: Human Rights advocacy; Migration, Statelessness, and Trafficking in Persons; Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network; Asian Advocacy Network on the Dignity and Rights of Children (AANDRoC); Ecumenical Solidarity Accompaniment and Diakonia in Asia (ESADA); Health and Healing; Good Governance; Action Together to Combat HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA).

No preference updated.

20 May 2004
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

SCMP - Wednesday, May 19, 2004

ASSOCIATED PRESS in Shanghai

Updated at 5.23pm:
The mainland's biggest city, will provide free or discounted Aids treatment to its poor, state media reported on Wednesday, citing alarm over the rapid spread of the disease among young adults in the city.

The city will cut or abolish charges for Aids treatment for farmers and other needy patients, the Wen Hui Daily and other newspapers reported.

They cited officials as saying that 195 new cases of HIV infection were confirmed last year in the city of 20 million people and that people aged 20 to 40 were the most commonly affected.

China's central government in April ordered local authorities to supply free AIDS testing and treatment for the poor, but didn't say how it would be financed in less-developed areas.

The standard therapy for treating Aids patients costs 30,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan (HK$28,250 to HK$47,083) a year - far beyond the means of most Chinese. Even in prosperous Shanghai, the country's business capital, the average income per person is only 14,868 yuan a year.

China says 840,000 of its people are HIV-positive and 80,000 have full-blown Aids, although the true figure is believed to be far higher.

Shanghai reported 911 people with HIV and 51 deaths from Aids last year.

Aids in China was once limited mainly to victims of unsanitary blood-buying schemes or people infected through prostitution or intravenous drug use. But officials warn that it is now spreading from high-risk groups to the general population.

The UN Aids agency says the number of infected people in China could rise to 10 million by 2020 without more aggressive prevention efforts.

Aids activists have criticised the Chinese government for being slow to acknowledge the extent of the disease in the country.

Details for implementing the new policies in Shanghai have yet to be worked out, the reports said.

They said pregnant women will receive free HIV testing, treatment and guidance, and free tests will be provided to residents seeking them.

The government is also considering providing clean syringes for drug addicts and stepping up promotion of condom use, the reports said.