ORIGINAL TEXT

Resolution A134

Title:   HIV Training

Topic:   HIV/AIDS

Committee:   Education

House of Initial Action:   Bishops

Proposer:   HIV/AIDS

Resolved, the House of _____ concurring, That the 75th General Convention require that beginning on September 1, 2007 the lay and ordained leadership of the Episcopal Church, including all ordained persons, professional staff, including staff youth ministers working with young people in middle school and high school, and those elected or appointed to positions of leadership on committees, commissions, agencies, and boards be required to take a basic HIV/AIDS training course and receive certification of such training; and be it further
Resolved, That the Office of Peace and Justice Ministries of the Episcopal Church, working in collaboration with the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition (NEAC) and the Standing Committee on HIV/AIDS develop a HIV training curriculum that will be updated each triennium; and be it further
Resolved, That the Executive Council authorize an appropriate mechanism for this training to be a web-based, self-directed tutorial to be housed on the Episcopal Church’s website, said tutorial being designed to generate a message to a database containing records certifying that the training has been completed; and be it further
Resolved, That the Executive Council direct that the database is housed and maintained by the Episcopal Church Center, including the ability to maintain records of those taking the training.
 

EXPLANATION

It is vital that those in leadership positions in the Episcopal Church have a basic working knowledge about HIV/AIDS if they are to seek and serve Christ in all persons, respecting the dignity of every human being. HIV/AIDS has been at pandemic levels for over two decades. The year 2005 marked the grim milestone of 1,000,000 people in the United States alone living with HIV (and 40,000,000 worldwide). Despite a variety of educational resources being available for many years, ignorance about the subject continues to have a negative impact on the delivery of pastoral and educational services to those infected and affected by HIV. The failure to recognize the need to deliver HIV information and the delivery of inaccurate information by those in positions of responsibility can have an extremely detrimental effect on those seeking educational, medical and social services. Lack of accurate information can heighten the levels of stigmatization, create a barrier to treatment and negate educational efforts.