In Senegal, two faiths fight AIDS together

Christian Century, Dec 27, 2003 by Richard Nyberg

From throughout central and west Africa Lutheran pastors and church health workers, eager to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS, recently traveled to the Senegal capital of Dakar to learn how religious leaders--most notably Islamic teachers--have helped keep the HIV prevalence rate down to around 1.4 per cent.

On a continent where some countries face HIV-infection rates of more than 30 per cent, many experts say Senegal is one of Africa's success stories.

Lutherans from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Togo examined the Senegalese experience in the fight against HIV/AIDS and worked out strategies for their own countries.

"The response of Senegal to the pandemic is very relevant," said Adama Taoko, West Africa regional representative for the Baltimore-based Lutheran World Relief, which organized the 11-day visit to Senegal that ended December 7. "Senegal has been able to work with religious leaders, Muslims and Christians," and bring them together with medical experts, he said.

More than 90 percent of Senegal's population are Muslims, and imams have played a key role in educating the public by speaking openly at mosques during weekly prayer meetings about HIV/AIDS. They have also encouraged local Christians to do the same.

In Linguere, 250 kilometers northeast of Dakar, a Roman Catholic-run project organized awareness-raising meetings on HIV/AIDS, and 15 imams participated, explained Anne Ruedisili Langdji, coordinator of a Lutheran health care project.

The United Nations program called UNAIDS has also taken note of the religious role in fighting the disease. "Where other social aspects of society appear relatively weak, religion seems to be one of the primary agents that binds the seemingly diverse Senegalese and provides a means of mobilizing the majority of the population to action," the UN program has stated.

Soon after the first cases of HIV/AIDS in Senegal were reported in 1986, authorities moved quickly to set up a national AIDS control program focusing on behavior change to encourage citizens to delay sexual experiences or to use condoms. They also concentrated on the country's prostitutes, called sex workers, with HIV-testing and AIDS awareness-raising campaigns.

"We have seen tremendous application of all we learned about AIDS awareness at the community level in Senegal," said Christine Fanta, a Lutheran from Cameroon who, with the other participants, visited several projects. Remarked fellow Cameroonian Jacob Nirwa: "Religious tolerance in Senegal is formidable."

Pastor Mare Guehi, from the Lutheran church in the Ivory Coast, said that he plans to use lessons from Senegal to enhance his church's efforts near the western border with Liberia, where countless refugees and displaced women have been raped by armed combatants. "We will start right away," he said. "It's a huge job."