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05348
June 30, 2005
UN, NGOs told faith-based organizations crucial in AIDS fight
by Peter Kenny
Ecumenical News International
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GENEVA — Up to 40 per cent of health care in poor countries is delivered by private religious institutions, according to the first systematic study of faith-based organizations and HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Rabia Mathai, senior vice-president for global program policy of the U.S. Catholic Medical Mission Board, told members of United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Geneva on June 29 that faith-based organizations are "true partners" in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.
She spoke during a discussion of "Faith in Action," the first systematic study of faith-based organizations (FBOs) and HIV/AIDS. The presentation was organized by the Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance on HIV/AIDS.
"The global community is urgently seeking to identify all relevant partners," Mathai said. "But the evidence-based body of knowledge on the role of FBOs in addressing HIV and AIDS has been limited. Faith-based organizations should be recognized as a special group."
As an example, Mathai cited the Roman Catholic Church in India, with a membership of about 20 million — just 2 per cent of the nation's one billion people — provides 26 per cent of the country's health-care infrastructure.
She said there are 5,000 Catholic health-care facilities in India, of which 750 are hospitals. Mathai said more than 4,000 others are dispensaries and primary health centers. In rural areas, these facilities represent 85 per cent of medical infrastructure. The church runs 114 nursing schools and six medical schools and has 600 sisters working as doctors in 47 dioceses.
Mathai said the study was commissioned by the Catholic Medical Mission Board, but independently designed, conducted and analyzed by the multi-national Global Health Council, a coalition of governmental groups and NGOs.
Another speaker, Lawrence Maund, an ordained Buddhist monk, explained how the Sangha Metta Project in Thailand, which he heads, runs interfaith health training programs on HIV/AIDS for Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims.
"The Sangha Metta Project is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and was established to promote and support the work of Buddhist monks and nuns in HIV/AIDS prevention and care," Maund said of the initiative, which is supported by UNAIDS and UNICEF. "Through the project, thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns all throughout Southeast Asia have been educated and trained in HIV/AIDS prevention and care, and are now working in their communities."
Asunta Wagura, who has been HIV positive for 16 years and heads the Kenya Network of Women Living with AIDS (KENWA), also spoke during the Geneva presentation. "Although living with HIV is a calamity, it also taught me life is a gift," Wagura said. "We just want to be what we were, so we do not have to walk with our faces down. Faith-based organizations can give us hope." |
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