ICASA: Churches need HIV policy

22 Nov, 2015 - 00:11 0 Views
ICASA: Churches need HIV policy

The Sunday Mail

Fatima Bulla
Religious Affairs Editor
GOVERNMENT will soon map a strategy for churches to take a much active role in curtailing the scourge of HIV and Aids, Health and Child Care minister Dr David Parirenyatwa has said.
As Zimbabwe hosts the 18th International Conference for AIDs and STIs in Africa (ICASA) from November 29 –December 4, Dr Parirenyatwa highlighted the important role that churches have to take in the fight against the virus.
This is underlined by recent surveys such as the one carried out by the Mass Public Opinion lnstitute which found out that religious leaders have become the most trusted and influential individuals with a 71 percent backing from Zimbabweans.
The conference will run under the theme ‘Aids in Post 2015 Era: Linking Leadership, Science and Human Rights’.
“There are special sessions for them (churches) at ICASA. It’s really an all sector conference. It is really important to see how the churches have looked at HIV and Aids and how they have managed it,” Dr Parirenyatwa said. He added that Government have always worked with traditional churches and those in the Pentecostal movement. “Traditional churches have always taken that active role. As you know, Reverend Kuchera used to sit on the board of the National Aids Council. They have preached a lot on that but they could take a stronger role.
“We have managed to get through to the Pentecostal churches. This conference is a great opportunity to encourage more participation,” Dr Parirenyatwa said.
One of ICASA’s objectives is to improve awareness on knowledge, skills, best practices from the response to Aids and other emergent epidemics like Ebola and Hepatitis. It will also highlight the importance of disseminating information to religious organisations.
Other objectives of the conference include increasing African leadership and ownership as well as investment in financing to support the continental health response, strengthening the interaction between public health, science and human right approaches in the control and elimination of the HIV and Aids associate diseases.
Furthermore, ICASA aims to promote development and scaling up of evidence-based interventions for HIV and Aids as well as associate diseases in the post 2015 era.
The Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe (UDACIZA) which boosts of more than 600 members will also participate at the conference.
“We are participating at the ICASA conference because as a Christian organisation we have our own HIV and Aids policy.
But the problem is that our policy is outdated. We prepared it in 2003 and we need to upgrade it,
“As an organisation that represents a bigger population of Apostolic and Zionist churches, we want to use the ICASA conference to upgrade our policy so that it will be in line with what is going on currently,” the organisation’s president, Reverend Edson Tsvakai said.
Church representatives under the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe have also put together a position paper in preparation for the conference.

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