Cultural and religious practices and the prevention of AIDS/HIV.
Int Conf AIDS 2004 Jul 11-16; 15:(abstract no. D10246)
Ogunfolu OA Students' Society Against Aids/Hivuniversity of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
Issues; religious teachings and cultural practices is emerging as a veritable tool employed in the fight against the spread of the dreaded HIV/AIDS syndrome in africa and most developing nations.but of note is the fact that policy makers and donor agencies are not harnessing the great opportunities that are embeded in the religious and cultural approach to the prevention of AIDS. at present religious institutions are currently living up to expectation by actually championing the cause. of paramount importance is the fact that developing nations are forgeting their basic native cultural practices which are veritable tools in support of prevention if harnessed. Description; the paper looks into the various cultural practices of developing nations and identifies the supporting roles of the cultural behaviours of the people drawing upon these to make modifications to this practices in order for them to be used by policy makers and aids workers in their respective prevention packages. this involve identifying particular practices and adapting them for the use of the immediate communities and others. the paper also takes into cognisance the fact that 90% of poeple in thedeveloping world are religiously inclined in one way or the other and attempts to push for the use of religious institutions in the fight against AIDS. Lessons learned; the use of culturalpractices and religious institution in the fight against AIDS in developing countries has proved to be a useful tool against stigmatization of infected persons.the respect given to religious institutions and cultural attachments of the people has proved to be a blessing that has not been tapped by the HIV community. Recommendation; it is recomended that attention be given to religious and cultural patterns of the people in order to develop a comprehensive action plan along that line to be applied and used.policy makers and donor agencies should give adequate support to such institutions in the fight against AIDS.
Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Seropositivity, HIV Infections, Developing Countries, Infection, Health Planning Guidelines, Demography, Residence Characteristics, Research, Africa, prevention & control, ethnology, education
