RELIGIOUS leaders from different denominations have been asked to lend a hand in wiping out stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS, as a tool to combat the disease in the country.
This call was made yesterday by the
Tanzania Commission for AIDS Executive Director, Dr Leonard Maboko, in a
meeting to strengthen the coordination of the disease among religious
institutions.
Dr Maboko asked the leaders to utilise
the different programmes that they have in their preaching and work to
ensure that the nation doesn’t have new infections and ensure that those
who are infected are respected and valued.
He stated that while the nation has
81,000 new infections every year, it isn’t right for religious leaders
to juggle the disease with sin. “A wife is at home, her husband is being
promiscuous and brings the disease home to his wife, if we say HIV/AIDS
is a sin, how do you explain how the wife sinned? And the child born
with the disease, what sin did the child commit?” probed the Executive
Director whilst urging the need to remove stigmatization.
In the meeting that was facilitated by
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
the TACAIDS boss said that at the moment there is a problem of men not
getting tests and even if they do, they don’t follow instructions and
are usually the first to die because they don’t take the drugs as
prescribed.
In spite of wanting the leaders to
prepare ways of inspiring their congregations and assist them in
effectively taking their medication, the director reminded them that at
present, the prevalence of the disease has dropped from 5.1 per cent
four years ago to 4.7 per cent now.
The acting Director of Response
Department in the Commission, Ms Audrey Njelekela, said the meeting also
dwelt on the exchange of experiences and learning about the importance
of coordinating the disease by utilising the existing human resources
and finance.
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