Students Encouraged to be Good Role Models, Active in Battle Against HIV/AIDS

Dr. Allan Ronald, one of Canada’s foremost HIV/AIDS researchers, speaks to CMU microbiology class

In the battle against HIV/AIDS, Christians should be a “voice for the sick and the poor,” be good role models, and make and support “good decisions in sexual health.”

That was the message shared with students at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) by Dr. Allan Ronald, one of Canada’s foremost physicians and microbiologists in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Speaking at Dr. Glen Klassen’s Essentials of Microbiology class at the university on March 25, Ronald added that Christians should “create a sense of belonging and hope” for people afflicted with the disease and “promote peace and justice” for people in the developing world who are at great risk of getting it.

Ronald, a member of Winnipeg’s non-denominational Assiniboia-Charleswood Community Church, also encouraged students to “advocate for good things and push back against evil—in your own lives and globally.” Sexual promiscuity, he added, “is one of those evils.”

In addition to his research, Ronald is a leader in developing comprehensive HIV/AIDS care and prevention programs in Africa. Noting that 7,000 people on that continent die each day from the disease, he told students that the battle will require “action, advocacy, ideas, energy, leadership, finances and prayer,” and that universities like CMU can “develop courses and develop leaders” for that fight.

“Our generation will be judged by how we respond to this crisis,” he stated.

He went on to say that scientists today are still struggling to find a vaccine to treat HIV/AIDS, and that they know only about ten percent of how the immune system works.

“There is lots for you to do in your lifetime,” he told the class.

Posted April 1, 2008.

For more information contact the CMU Communications Director, 500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, Manitoba R3P 2N2, telephone: 204-487-3300 ext. 630, fax: 204-889-1694,(www.cmu.ca)