As individuals, organisations and churches, we can also invest time or money with Aids-related charities. Different organisations focus on different countries and different needs.
Some work directly with Aids orphans; others educate people about the disease. Some set up advocacy groups for Aids-related causes, such as the rights of women.
And of course we don't have to travel to Africa to find young people who need to know about the dangers of HIV and Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Workers in areas of high risk will tell you that one of the biggest weapons against Aids is education or awareness.
It's vital that people are encouraged to be tested for the disease and that they remain faithful within marriage. The more sexual partners a person has, the more likely they are to contract and pass on the disease - condoms or no condoms.
Britain has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in Europe. Young people are becoming sexually active at a younger and younger age - usually without any real guidance about what that means, physically or emotionally.
In the UK and much of Europe there's a need for organisations that will work to raise awareness of Aids and sexually transmitted diseases in general - and to discourage the young from getting involved with the kind of promiscuous sexual activity that provides their breeding ground.
Over the next decade, finding cures for major diseases may become a matter of survival for a lot more people than it is today. Even in today's high-tech age we basically have no medical protection against viral plague. There is no equivalent of penicillin for viruses.
Today's increasing world population and our high mobility have made us more exposed than ever to the risk of global epidemic. Aside from HIV and Aids, we're seeing other new viruses emerge, viruses that change shape quickly, developing immunities to our drugs.
People who are suffering the pain of HIV and Aids, or any other major strain of disease, will need sanctuaries, places of healing both physical and emotional. Community organisations such as churches can be provide those kinds of sanctuaries, as they have often done in the past.
You don't have to be a person of faith to get involved in Aids care or support. Most people, whatever their beliefs, share the same concerns and commitment.
Yet if, as many Christians believe, the power of Christ is present within the Church to heal sickness or, at the very least, to give solace for those who suffer, the presence of tragic diseases like HIV/AIDS surely represents a positive challenge for faith - a challenge that people faith should rise to meet.
As one songwriter put it, "healing is just another word for love."
Mal Fletcher is an author, social commentator, global conference speaker, leadership consultant and TV and radio broadcaster based in London.
Copyright Mal Fletcher 2008, Next Wave International, www.malfletcher.net Printed with permission
