Stephanie Correa

English 1312; Fall 2013 Op-Ed

HIV/AIDS

Religious groups should remove stigmas and change the approach about HIV/AIDS to strengthen prevention in the communities.
Despite all the advancements weve had in the United States regarding the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, religious communities have not yet removed their stigmas or views about this disease. Some people have closed their minds so much about this topic, that they believe it is a homosexual disease and that federal money should not be used to help those who were infected. If we all thought this way, Im pretty sure HIV/AIDS would be a bigger problem than it is at the moment. Some faith leaders still preach of such epidemic as if it were a sinners disease, but more are starting to realize that HIV is a virus that can affect anyone, and that you could even be born with it.

Education about abstinence and marital faithfulness has proven to be extremely effective. For example, a two-year study by Johns Hopkins University in Mozambique found that abstinence among young females rose from 34 to 49 percent after they received information about how HIV/AIDS is contracted. Even though you might educate the communities about HIV/AIDS and its effects, in reality not everyone will be abstinent therefore you would have to take a different approach about this issue. Perhaps religious groups could start to realize that not everyone practices abstinence as they wished, and instead of just educating about abstinence and marital faithfulness they should also provide information and ways of preventing HIV/AIDS such as having protected sex and using condoms. Why would I like for religious leaders to take a step and act in this cause? Well because, religious leaders are central in their communities. They have strengths, credibility, and respect, which offer them the opportunity to make a real difference in combating HIV and AIDS (HIV and AIDS Advocacy & Media; 2008). Since they are leaders among the community and have a broad spectrum of people they can reach out to, they turn out to be a very efficient medium to inform the public about this issue. This doesnt mean they would have to do it alone, we can also contribute to the cause by encouraging our local church to

morally support those who suffer from HIV/AIDS so that they dont close themselves from the world and can be well informed on ways to treat their virus or ways to prevent from infecting others. Maybe we can reach out to a public speaker who is better informed about the topic and ask them if they could possibly have an assembly at the church, adding credibility to the cause and thus making the people comfortable enough to get involved and attend the event. Great way to start advocating about this topic would be to reach out to teens since in the recent years teenagers have seemed to be more sexually active than they had been in the past years. Its time that most of our churches become an action church and not just a praying church and involve the community in causes to help inform those who arent informed of HIV/AIDS already.

The Role of Religious Leaders in Combating HIV and AIDS. (2008). In HIV and AIDS Advocacy & Media Relations: Handbook for religious leaders. New York, NY: Religions for Peace. Graham, F. (2012, July 23). Franklin Graham: Jesus is a model on how the church should respond to HIV/AIDS. Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/ franklin-graham-in-response-to-people-living-with-hivaids-like-jesus-we-have-to-reach-out-to-them-lov e-them-and-heal-them/2012/07/23/gJQAuVWZ4W_blog.html http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Cross-and-HIV-AIDS-theme.jpg 3