Taking it to the Pulpit: Repositioning FBOs as Critical Agencies in the HIV/AIDS Response in South Africa

Abstract

In spite of significant gains achieved in the fight against HIV/AIDS, it remains a huge public health challenge in South Africa. Therefore, there is a need for continuous concerted efforts involving critical agencies like faith-based organizations (FBOs) that are already prominent in health care. The chapter examines how FBOs involved in HIV/AIDS response can be repositioned and further empowered. Though FBOs remain very critical and relevant to the national response in the country given their grassroots reach and influence; there is ambivalence on the value of such roles and how they relate to the national response. The main findings include: FBOs are not fully integrated into the national response framework; in spite of laudable strides, FBOs still embody a negative influence on the response especially in terms of the use of condoms; FBOs lack capacity in such crucial areas as networking and partnership; however, they are active in rural enclaves and in the prevention and care aspects of the response. There is a need to strengthen these FBOs, align their initiatives to both the national framework and orthodox knowledge regarding the pandemic. This chapter recommends programs to build the managerial and technical capacities of these FBOs

“We Reach to People Through Different Means”: Factors That Influence HIV Counseling and Testing Among Religious People in Lilongwe, Malawi

“…It has been argued that the incorporation of health issues in spiritual care enhances coping with the condition among those infected (Stewart et al, 2018), and improves spiritual wellbeing which is associated with attendance to HIV services (Yates et al, 2018). Contrary to our findings, in other areas, HIV and AIDS are often viewed through a moral lens which inevitably leads to stigma and discrimination (Anugwom & Anugwom, 2018). This is because stigma or fear of it limits the congregants' and church leaders' involvement in HIV and AIDS services within a congregation (Mendel et al, 2015).…”

“…The role of religious leaders in HIV and AIDSs could be strengthened by continued training (Rakotoniana et al, 2014;Stewart et al, 2018) which is tailored according to their needs (Stewart et al, 2018). Continuous and sustained capacity building will translate into continued involvement of the religious leaders in HIV and AIDS matters (Anugwom & Anugwom, 2018) which was also alluded to in our study. Contrariwise, in other settings, sharing HIV services is challenging among religious leaders hence needing support and strengthening of skills (Stewart et al, 2016).…”

“…The silence on the use of condoms in our study is common among religious sectors because it is against most of their beliefs as they fear that unmarried congregants would be partaking in premarital sex (Anugwom & Anugwom, 2018; Barmania & Aljunid, 2016; Derose et al, 2011; Trinitapoli, 2011). The silence could also stem from the uneasiness that comes with talking about sexual issues (Lindgren et al, 2013) and again the dilemma that is faced by religious leaders in wanting to uphold their religious values against the use of condoms while being cognisant of the secular demands and the divergent views held by followers (Ochillo et al, 2017).…”