Christian ethics and HIV/AIDS prevention : a focus on the youth of Gauteng

Abstract

No epidemic has been with man as long as HIV/AIDS. Medical scientists project that the HIV/AIDS epidemic will continue for a long time in the future. HIV/AIDS care has become a substantial part of health care spending in Carletonville and Gauteng. Education is affected through staff becoming infected and through the increasing needs of affected and infected children. The majority of the population of Gauteng are affected by this epidemic as its impact on family members, friends and colleagues are on a daily bases experienced. The crippling fact is that living with HIV/AIDS is a reality. Yet, no medicine has been discovered as a cure for this dreadful disease. Its toll on the lives of both old and young in Gauteng is high and demoralizing. HIV/AIDS is spread mainly through sexual intercourse and many young people in Gauteng contract the virus in this way. The problem has to do with the current social paradigm responsible for the sexual behaviour of the youth in Gauteng and, in particular, Carletonville. While the provision of female and male condoms and substantial improvements to health services for the management of AIDS continues, a new ethic to change risky sexual behaviour has to be devised and conveyed to the people. The present study focuses on Christian Ethics and HIV/AIDS prevention among the youth of Gauteng. Fifty young men and women participated in the study. Their response to the main research question" "who is to blame for the HIV/AIDS in the community" showed that many young people do not want to accept responsibility for their sexual behaviour. This being the case, the thesis seeks to provide a particular Christian ethical principle pertaining to the Bible and moral issues. The recommendation is that Christian churches should emphasise Bible teaching for transformation and renewal of the mind. Music and arts must be used to communicate abstinence from sex. All stakeholders must use the persuasive approach to educate the youth to keep away from sexual immorality. Whatever people do to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, it is the youth who have the power of the "I" to accept or reject any Biblical teaching for the transformation of their lives and prevention of HIV.