Church leaders encourage AIDS stigma - Reverend

Faith-based organisations are largely responsible for the stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with HIV/AIDS, the Africa Network of Religious Leaders Living with HIV/AIDS (ANRELA+) has said. During the current 11th International Conference for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kampala, Uganda, ANRELA+ coordinator, Rev Jape Heath, said religious leaders had an advantage, which they should use to break down the stigma and discrimination around HIV/AIDS, and stop regarding sex as sin. Heath was quoted by local newspaper, The Monitor, as saying: "In the church we look at HIV/AIDS like it equals sex; sex equals sin; and sin equals death." He said certain sins, such as providing false academic papers to get a job, were socially acceptable, but sex was always regarded as a bigger transgression. "When we associate ... certain issue[s], such as sex and sin, we are not looking at the whole picture," Heath added.