Religious leaders told to join AIDS campaign

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta

Unlike in other countries, people living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia are ostracized by religious leaders, who should play a pivotal role in the fight against the virus.

"We often meet religious leaders who stigmatize people with HIV/AID as unforgivable sinners. They also believe the virus is highly contagious and easily spread," Husein Habsyi, vice president of the Pelita Ilmu Foundation (YPI), told a discussion here on Saturday.

Habsyi said that religious leaders were so ignorant that they dismissed the possibility of their communities being affected by the virus.

"Their perception is totally wrong," he said.

Faraj, founder of the Muslim AIDS Project (MAP), a non- governmental organization that promotes objective and non- discriminatory treatment of people with the virus, is proof of how wrong that perception is.

Faraj said he contracted HIV when he was a lecturer at a Muslim boarding school in 2001. He had studied at the same school.

"Having a strong religious background does not protect someone from being infected with the virus," said Faraj, whose wife and daughter have tested negative for HIV/AIDS.

Both Habsyi and Faraj believe that religious leaders could play a leading role in curbing HIV/AIDS infection and eliminating the stigma against people living with the virus.

"In Uganda, clerics educated and informed the public about HIV/AIDS, and that managed to reduce the number of new cases to 8 percent per year, from 14 percent previously," said Habsyi.

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has named Uganda a model country in the fight against the virus, in which religious leaders took the initiative to control its spread.

In Thailand, Buddhist monks have a set schedule in which they visit people living with the virus in the afternoons. Among those they visit are fellow monks.

"The monks talk to students, pass on information on the virus and on how to prevent it from infecting them, by ways of using condoms and new syringes. The program works very well," said Habsyi.

Faraj founded MAP to encourage the community to treat people with HIV/AIDS equally and fairly.

"I want people with HIV to be well-accepted by the whole community," said Faraj.

He himself has experienced discrimination.

"Once I was asked to leave my rented house, as the owner, who is a Muslim like me, found out that I was HIV positive. I felt very sad, but realized there was still a lot of work to do," he said.

His foundation offers training to people to collect the right information on HIV/AIDS and psychosocial support for people living with HIV and their relatives. It also publishes books.

The organization has also started to approach Muslim schools and universities.

"We provide peer education and training to help young Muslims fight discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS," said Faraj.