Religious bodies concerned about HIV/AIDS

Heads of major religious organisations in the country on Wednesday resolved to break the silence around sex and HIV/AIDS and offer support to People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) as part of their contribution to the fight against the pandemic.

In a communiqu? presented to Vice President Alui Mahama, in Accra, religious leaders said they had resolved that the disease was real and the time to act was now.

The joint communiqu?, issued by the Christian Council of Ghana, the Muslim Religious Community, the Ghana Pentecostal Council, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, and other religious organisations, was presented during the launch of a national campaign against AIDS being led by religious organisation with a focus on showing compassion to PLWHA.

They called for the inclusion of religious leaders on the censorship board or regulatory bodies in charge of regulating films screened to the public to uphold the moral values of the youth.

They said the media had the tendency to erode the morals of the youth and the inclusion of religious organisations on such censorship board would help sustain the fight against HIV prevention.

The communiqu? called for the setting up of an HIV week, which should precede the World AIDS Day in December to educate school children. It urged the government to commit resources to fight the disease and provide treatment and drugs to PLWHA "the proposed national health insurance scheme notwithstanding."

It also called for the local manufacture of anti-retroviral drugs for the management of the disease, which has so far infected over 500,000 Ghanaians. The religious organisations openly condemned the stigmatisation of PLWHA and the deliberate spread of the virus by infected people.

They said they would continue to promote abstinence and faithfulness in the fight and develop information and education materials to educate their followers. Earlier, Maulvi Wahab Adam, Ameer of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, who was part of the team, which presented the communiqu?, said all religious organisations in the country had committed themselves to breaking the silence around sex as part of a national effort, which they are now leading against the scourge.

Other members of the team were the National Chief Imam, Alhaji Usman Nuhu Sharbutu and the Rev. Joseph Anim, Vice president of the Ghana Pentecostal Council

The campaign being led by the religious bodies, is under the theme, "Reach Out: Show Compassion," and it being done in collaboration with the John Hopkins University and the Ghana Social Marketing Foundation. It is expected to help religious organisation draw up policies on HIV/AIDS, encourage voluntary counseling and create a positive response to PLWHA