MAPUTO, Sept 29 (AFP) - The UN children's agency UNICEF on Wednesday urged religious leaders in Mozambique to play a more active role in fighting AIDS as the country braces for a dramatic increase in the number of AIDS orphans in coming years.
"Religious leaders enjoy greater confidence, credibility and authority and could play a key role in awareness-raising in the communities they represent," said UNICEF representative Marie-Pierre Poirier.
"They have the power to put an end to the feeling of guilt and rejection, stigma and discrimination and open the door to reconciliation and hope, awareness and cure, prevention and care," Poirier said at the opening of a two-day conference aimed at encouraging religious leaders to rise to the AIDS challenge.
According to UNAIDS, 12.2 percent of adults or about 1.1 million people in Mozambique are living with HIV and AIDS.
Life expectancy has dropped from 41 in 1999 to 38 in 2004, while the prevalence rate -- the percentage of the population with the disease at a given time -- has shot up 8.2 percent during that same period.
Poirier said AIDS had turned into a crisis of major proportions and that women and children were bearing the brunt of the pandemic.
"Girls and young women are particularly vulnerable as prevalence among them is three times higher than among boys and young men," she said.
There are currently 273,000 AIDS orphans in Mozambique and that figure is expected to reach 625,000 by 2010, she added.
Some 100 representatives from Christian, Hindu and Muslim religions along with civic organisations attended the conference organized by UNICEF, UNAIDS and the Mozambican chapter of the World Conference of Religions for Peace.
The seminar opened with a heated debate on reviving moral values, in particular among youth, as a way to help fight AIDS.
Some church leaders also complained that they had been left out of consultations on the messages used in the struggle against the disease.
Muhamad Yassin, a spokesman for the Muslim community said: "It is urgent that religious leaderships are integrated in the planning and implementation of strategies against HIV/AIDS."
"Yes, we were excluded but its never too late to join."
Yassin also said the struggle against AIDS "cannot be successful unless moral values are observed and religion is the main vehicle of such values."
Mahendracumar Chhagan, a Hindu community representative said: "Moral values are important for the edification of any society."
Chhagan also criticised certain messages used in the fight against the epidemic saying "instead of helping reduce the spread they are boosting it."
"How can you say 'use condoms in occasional sexual relations?," he asked.
"Today, there is no respect for the human law and no shame on the face of men," added Roman Catholic priest Hilario Francisco.
Francisco called on all forces of society, including the government to "return to the roots" and join forces against HIV/AIDS, the country's main health threat after malaria and tuberculosis.
Mozambique has a diverse religious makeup, with about half of its population adhering to indigenous faiths, 30 percent are Christian and 20 percent Muslim.
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