Medical experts and religious leaders put heads together on HIV

An unlikely meeting of science and religion took place this week when the 'Voices of Reason' conference brought together Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders and faith-based organisations (FBOs) with medical experts in the field of HIV/AIDS in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The aim of the meeting, organised by the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society (SAHIVS), was to provide faith-based organisations with a scientific basis for their HIV/AIDS programmes.

"We've asked FBOs to come forward because a large majority of South Africans identify themselves as religious," SAHIVS president Dr Francois Venter said at the opening on Wednesday.

"Every South African knows how you contract HIV and yet we've been very unsuccessful in curbing the epidemic, so we need to put our heads together and come up with new ideas."

Former SAHIVS president and chair of the meeting, Dr David Spencer, commented that "we're scientists, and some of us have our faith, but we don't have all the answers."

After a series of sessions covering the science behind HIV transmission, management and treatment, the discussion returned to the thorny issue of prevention.

The latest UNAIDS figures estimate South Africa's HIV-infected population at 5.5 million and rising.

Prevalence in other parts of southern Africa appear to be stabilising or even declining, but prevention campaigns in South Africa have yet to yield results.

Churches and FBOs play a major role in providing HIV treatment, care and support services throughout Africa because they are often long-established and well-respected, with a community base that few NGOs or government organisations can hope to match.

But religion and science have had an uneasy relationship in the field of HIV prevention: the importance of condoms versus abstinence, in particular, has brought religious principles into conflict with public health approaches.

This dilemna did not take long to surface at the conference.

"I do not believe in premarital sex, adultery or homosexuality, so people assume I'm judgemental," said one delegate. "My dilemma is, as passionate as I am about HIV, I'm passionate about God and I believe He should direct us."

Another participant, a Catholic priest, criticised prevention approaches that view HIV as just a disease, without considering lifestyle choices: "Our programme doesn't look at just the disease, but as life as a whole.

We talk about condoms, but if we're talking to youngsters that's not where we begin."

Addressing a room full of priests, rabbis and imams, prominent AIDS treatment activist Zachie Achmat admitted he had no religious beliefs, but agreed with the priest that "you can't deal with this problem if you don't look at how we live."

Bridging the apparent divide between science and spirituality, Spencer identified himself as both a doctor and a Christian, and argued that the two were not incompatible.

"Medicine is fundamentally a moral enterprise, because it's dedicated to the welfare of the person it treats," he said.

Despite such wide-ranging views, Tim Smith, of the Catholic Health Care Association, believed the meeting had come at a crucial moment in South Africa's HIV/AIDS response and could provide the basis for greater unity in future.

He called for the establishment of an ongoing HIV/AIDS working group made up of representatives of the various faiths. "I think the similarities are much bigger than the differences," he said.

"I think we've gotten stuck on the differences while the fire was burning."

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