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October 13 2006
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Volume 34
Issue 41

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Conference focuses on health issues and the Black church

Conference focuses on health issues and the Black church
"We must stop the killing of African Americans from a multitude of diseases that are 100 percent preventable," said Balm in Gilead's Pernessa Seele. The Balm in Gilead is hosting the "The Black Church Institute on HIV/AIDS and Other Health Disparities" from Oct. 24-27 at the Charleston Riverview Hotel in Charleston, S.C. The conference is exclusively designed for leaders of Black churches who strive to increase their knowledge about HIV/AIDS and other diseases and to strengthen their commitment to education and supporting those who suffer. Pernessa Seele, the organization's executive director, said this year's conference will "broaden discussions on how African American congregations are responding to the challenges of other diseases that are devastating our families and communities." In addition to the devastation and impact of HIV/AIDS, other diseases, such as cervical cancer, hepatitis C and, renal disease, are also killing African Americans, including children, at rates that can be compared to those of third world countries. "We must stop the killing of African Americans from a multitude of diseases that are 100 percent preventable," she said. Invited participants include pastors, deacons, missionaries, church school educators, youth ministry leaders, church nurses and other auxiliary church leaders. "The overall health status of African Americans is poor. One in every Black man and one in every 160 Black woman are living with the virus that causes AIDS," said Seele. "In some communities within the US, the AIDS epidemic among African Americans is comparable to the AIDS epidemic in poor African villages-Out of Control!" "The role of leadership is critical at this time in our lives," Seele said. "Our elders and children are struggling to survive the torment of diseases that are preventable and curable. History has already recorded the role of the church in the survival of African Americans through the ages. Today, we must recommit ourselves as congregations and as individuals to the tremendous work that it will take to stop the widening gap of health disparities in our community, especially the destruction of HIV/AIDS." Program participants include the Rev. Dr. Kenneth Samuels, senior pastor of Victory for the World Church, Atlanta, Ga.; Ron Simmons, PhD, executive director of US Helping US, Washington, D.C.; Entertainer Sheryl Lee Ralph; Phill Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute, Los Angeles, Calif.; Bishop George W.C. Walker, senior bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; Dr. Maria Borum, director of gastroenterology and liver disease at the George Washington University Hospital, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Bambi Gaddist, executive director of the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Council, Columbia, S.C.; Rev. Ronald Hopson, PhD, associate professor of Pastoral Care & Counseling at Howard University, Washington, D.C.; and Dr. Jamesina Evans, international president of the National Women's Missionary Society for the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Balm In Gilead seeks to create an environment of knowledge, support, care, compassion and unconditional love to overcome the barriers of ignorance, stigma, homophobia, denial and hate. For more information contact: The Balm In Gilead Inc., 130 West 42nd Street, Suite 704, New York, NY, USA 10036. Tele: (212) 730-7381/ (888) 225-6243 Fax: (212) 730-2551; e-mail: info@balmingilead.org or visit www.balmingilead.org A Balm In Gilead Inc. press release