Religious leaders urge use of worship places to fight AIDS

Religious leaders during the International Interfaith Conference on HIV/AIDS in Colombo pledged to fight against the deadly disease by using their places of worship, educational and available health facilities.

The conference was themed, "Response of Faith Communities to HIV and AIDS – Have We Kept the Promise?" and was attended by more than 200 Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim delegates across Asia.

The event was collaborated by the Asian Interfaith Network on Aids, the Christian Conference of Asia and the Geneva–based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, which is linked to the World Council of Churches.

The conference that began ahead of the August eighth Asia Pacific AIDS conference, also taking place in Colombo, declared that the Asian Interfaith Network on AIDS, along with HIV/AIDS groups in faith communities, will develop "tools to train the leadership". This would also enable faith organizations to be effective public voices for raising awareness, explained the organizers.

Karuna Roy, who coordinates the HIV/AIDS work of the Church of North India, told delegates she has been branded a "shameless woman", even by some church officials, for speaking about sex in public during her HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns.

"Where there is strong pastoral leadership and congregational support, our programmes have been successful," pointed Roy.

Phramaha Boonchuay Doojai, chairperson of the Asian Interfaith Network on AIDS, based in Thailand, told ENI, "There are still many [religious] leaders with the attitude that AIDS is not a problem that concerns them. When faith communities take an "active role" in HIV/AIDS awareness and care, the result has been encouraging."

A Malaysian medical doctor, Manoj Kurian, working for the World Council of Churches and with the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance on HIV and AIDS said the challenge was to make the faith communities "HIV competent". "In the context of HIV/AIDS, we as people of faith have the responsibility to work to the highest possible standard," said Dr Kurian.