Religious leaders to boost HIV/AIDS awareness

Intensifying its efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS becoming an epidemic, Pakistan's National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), with the support of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), has developed an information-kit for religious leaders on HIV/AIDS prevention. "The information kit has been adapted from the global generic version, which has been translated into Urdu [Pakistan's national language]. The text has been revised to suit Islamic ideologies taking into consideration Pakistan's unique characteristics," Dr Nabila Zaka, a UNICEF programme officer, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. The info-kit entitled, "Role of Religious leaders in HIV/AIDS prevention", sets out the basic facts about HIV/AIDS, including modes of transmission and means of prevention. It also discusses in detail the optimal behaviour of communities towards people living with HIV/AIDS and their care. "The social effects of HIV/AIDS are discussed alongside problems seen primarily from a religious point of view. There is in-depth discourse on caring for orphans and widows in general and those affected by HIV/AIDS in particular," Dr Muhammad Imran of NACP told IRIN in Islamabad. Through the info-kit, religious leaders have been asked to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS in their daily sermons after prayers and other administrative gatherings by discussing preventive ways and also to avoid discrimination against HIV-positive people. UNICEF and NACP collaborated to evaluate the existing state of knowledge and perceptions about HIV/AIDS and to provide an overview for developing strategies to involve religious leaders. For this purpose, national and provincial consultations and training were held in September and October this year, involving some 200 religious leaders from all major sects. "We've proposed to take the programme to religious schools and the teachers of madaris [religious school] should also be sensitised over the issue," Habib-ur-Rehman, director at religious affairs ministry, told IRIN. Pakistan has more than 10,000 religious schools, where nearly 500,000 children are given religious education. The provinces of Sindh, Punjab and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) have a large number of religious schools while Balochistan have only few. "UNICEF will also hold basic training sessions for clerics in eight targeted districts of Sindh, Punjab, NWFP, Balochistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir," Zaka said. The agency would also initiate the same kind of consultation process with female religious leaders by next year. Currently, less than 1 percent of the country's population is affected with some 2,462 registered cases of HIV/AIDS, according to NACP, of which 42 percent were transmitted via heterosexual intercourse. The remaining modes included injecting drug usage, homosexuality and blood transfusion.