UNITED NATIONS, Aug 9 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — An innovative plan by the United Nations involves religious actors and places of worship in Africa to identify children with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and provide them with life-saving treatment.
These practices are more important than ever at a time when 11 children die every hour from the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and finding and treating them is vital, according to the latest UNAIDS report.
About 1.7 million children worldwide are living with the virus that causes the disease and are particularly vulnerable, according to Stuart Kean, author of the Compendium of Promising Practices on the role of African faith-based interventions to end HIV in children and teenagers, co-published by the United Nations.
The document compiles 41 actions focused on the critical role of faith communities in identifying undiagnosed children living with HIV, improving treatment continuity, supporting adolescents to access psychosocial support, care and treatment, and enabling support groups.
According to Jacek Tyszko, senior program advisor for UNAIDS, since the implementation of a new community outreach model in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, in 2018, religious leaders have helped 60,000 people across the country reach the antiretroviral treatment they were not receiving.
Now, these imams, pastors and priests play a key role in making sure that no one is left behind in the global quest to rid the world of HIV/AIDS. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
