Story number 3 for 26 Nov 2002

(Dominican Republic) — As the number of people diagnosed with HIV is on the increase, World Vision continues to look for ways to help. Vice-President Steve Haas recently returned from the Dominican Republic and said the situation there has continued to deteriorate. “The numbers there are truly startling from the perspective of the number of people who have the disease, we’re talking right now 130,000 people with HIV aids and those numbers are going up.” Haas visited local public hospitals and looked at early prevention programming that World Vision is doing. He also says there are things Christians and the church can do to help. “They’ve got to become aware. For us it’s more than just understanding what the disease is, it’s also becoming active with our government and letting them know there needs to be more aids funding for awareness and prevention as well as activity. Getting involved with organizations that are doing the job.”