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Clerics from
all faiths establish project to tackle AIDS in the Arab world
The Associated Press
Published: November 9, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/09/africa/ME_GEN_AIDS_Clerics_Project.php
CAIRO, Egypt:
For the first time in the Arab world, Muslim and Christian
clerics from 20 countries have together launched a project to
tackle HIV/AIDS in their societies.
Announced at the end of the four-day Regional Forum for
Religious Leaders on AIDS, the scheme aims to break the stigma
attached the disease in the Arab world as well as provide
medical support and counseling for HIV patients and their
families.
"We have developed a plan of action to urgently respond to what
is amounting to a region living on the brink of an epidemic,"
said Father Hady Aya, a conference delegate from the Maronite
Church in Lebanon, where he works for the Justice and Mercy
organization.
Silence about the nature and prevalence of HIV/AIDS tends to be
the norm in the Arab world, where conservative traditions
discourage any public discussion of sex. People who have tested
positive for the HIV virus are often shunned and suffer
discrimination.
"AIDS is an evil that is devouring Arab societies," said Rania
Abdel Rahman, an activist from Sudan, which has by far the
highest infection rate in the Arab world. The United Nations
AIDS program and the WHO estimate that Sudan has 350,000 people
infected with HIV more than 10 times the estimate for any
other Arab country.
Today in Africa & Middle East
The plan endorsed Thursday by 300 clerics Shiite Muslim, Sunni
Muslim and various Christian denominations is the first
pan-Arab initiative to combat the spread of the disease, either
from the public or private sector.
The clerics named it "Chahama," the Arabic word for magnanimity,
saying the term conveyed "the necessary attitude" toward
tackling HIV/AIDS.
The document distributed at the forum said the plan envisages
steps to promote chastity, avoid prostitution, and to provide
medical care and counseling spiritual as well as practical
for HIV victims and their families.
There was no estimate of the annual cost of the plan, but the
document said money would be raised through donations from
mosques, private individuals as well as NGOs and international
bodies. The plan will establish a Chahama bank account to
receive donations in every Arab state.
"AIDS has ravaged my people for years," said Abdel Rahman from
Sudan. "I don't want to see this monster do the same to the
region. We have to stop it."
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