By Bishop T. D. Jakes

The problem of HIV/AIDS in the African-American community has rapidly progressed beyond just an illness to a massive epidemic that is a national crisis. When reviewing the magnitude of the numbers connected to this deadly disease, you only need to take a glance at a few of them to completely take your breath away.

• While only 12 percent of the total American population, African-Americans make up 37 percent of total American AIDS cases.

• More than 50 percent of newly reported HIV infections in the United States are among African-Americans.
• Among African-American men aged 25 through 44 years, AIDS is the single largest cause of death.

These numbers, should give everyone -- not just African-Americans -- great pause for concern.

I believe that the African-American church, long a symbol and source of information and education to the African-American community, has for too long remained silent about this challenge.

To be sure our churches -- mine included -- have done some notable works individually. The problem remains that this is not a foe we can defeat individually.

It will take the collective might of both the church universally committed and the implementation of a comprehensive agenda that includes medical professionals, political might, social services and personal responsibility to overcome this dreaded disease.

That collective pool has not been enacted previously and all of us have suffered from it.

Recently I was honored to co-chair a national discussion on HIV/AIDS with Dr. Calvin Butts from the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York. At the African-American Clergy Conclave held in New York October 8-9, a congregation of clergy, government officials, health care agencies and leading educators came together to develop policy for legislation to support and aggressively end the spread of HIV/AIDS.