Bishop Visits U.N. to Push Fight vs Malaria
Jackie Campbell
9/22/2010
On a stage with world leaders at the United Nations, United Methodist Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton was the only participant wearing a clerical collar. It brought forth the question: “What’s a guy like you doing in a place like this?”
The Pittsburgh-based Bishop heads the denomination’s Global Health Initiative. His presence Tuesday at events during the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals Review Summit showed both the power of partnerships and the need for collaboration among government, business and faith-based organizations if goals like eliminating deaths from malaria and cutting worldwide poverty rates in half are to be achieved by 2015.
Many churches and faith-based groups are focused on saving lives, but the United Methodist Church has committed money toward the effort with its $75 million Imagine No Malaria campaign, launched in 2008 as an outgrowth of a partnership in Nothing But Nets. The goal, in sync with the Millenium Development Goal of eliminating malaria, TB and HIVAIDs, is to cut deaths from preventable diseases worldwide.
Progress has been made. When it began, statistics showed a child under 5 died from the disease every 30 seconds. Now the most recent figures show the death rate has slowed to one every 45 seconds, still an unacceptable situation when talking about a preventable disease, the Bishop said.
“Children have been given a chance that they would not have had if this effort had not taken place,” he said during a panel discussion with digital journalists. But, “we need a concentrated, coordinated, integrated effort of partners all over the world to get the job done.”
In opening the Summit on Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized financial contributions. He said the eight millennium development goals are achievable if member nations stay true to their commitments.
"Being true means supporting the vulnerable despite the economic crisis," he said. "We should not balance budgets on the backs of the poor."
Bishop Bickerton acknowledged that getting financial commitments for the Imagine No Malaria campaign in tough economic times is challenging, but many people are enthusiastic about the chance to make a real difference in the world.
“What we are discovering in this process is that when people understand the story of human need, they respond,” he said, citing examples of help received from United Methodists in other nations like Liberia when Hurricane Katrina hit and the outpouring of aid for the people of Haiti after the January earthquakes.
The passion and awareness generated by efforts to eliminate malaria deaths is infectious, he added.
The campaign –and the opportunity to save lives—has energized youth and young adults who “are looking for a connection between the church’s message and its ministry,” Bishop Bickerton said. They are looking for a way to live out their faith, “to engage and make it happen in their own lives.
“They believe they can make a difference and they are depending on the leadership and government sectors to come through because they are trying as hard as they can,” he added. They put the heat on leadership to deliver the goods. They need to know how and they want to know more.”
Bishop Bickerton said what motivates him and many other leaders to continue their efforts are the Africans themselves.
Despite hardships of disease and extreme poverty, he said, “they have everything in terms of joy and spirit. I live in a country that has everything and we struggle to find joy.”
There is an imbalance in the world between those who have and have not, the Bishop said. In the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year, a mother approached him, put her dying baby in his arms and asked him to pray for the child. He did and by the end of the day the child had died from a disease that could be prevented.
“We have to actualize that prayer through this effort. That child in Africa deserves a chance just like my children have,” he said.
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