PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS CONDEMNS THE CHURCH LEADERS

By Tionge Mphombo Kalua
People living with HIV/AIDS condemned the behavior of church leaders on satarday at Southern Africa Social Forum in Lilongwe that they like practising stigima and discrimination to people living with HIV/AIDS. This was discussed among many delegates from different countries including Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique among others.
The Board Chairperson for Livingstonia Synod Aids Program (LISAP) Mrs Lilian Dindi Kumwenda who chaired the Malawi Forum (Northern Chapter) said that most of faith leaders segregate people with HIV/AIDS.
She added that most leaders are full of fear to know about their status and they end up dying silently with the diesese.
She further accused the Christians and Moslem leaders that they deny the use of condoms among their members claiming that it promotes prostitution.
Commenting on the matter the delegates said that the cchurch should encourage its people to go for voluntary councelling and testing and that youths to use copndoms if they can not abstain.
The Church Deacon for Rumhi CCA (Livingstonia Synod Elikana Mhango denied that their denomination doesn’t segregate eole living with HIVAIDS and they don’t regard them as sinners because they don’t know how they were infected. She added that they don’t tell their youths to use condoms instead they encourage abstainance.
According to T.A Mkaya a Moslem leader from Mkaya 1 in Balaka denied the accusations that they don’t ractise stigma and deescriminaation in their beliefs arguing that eole with HIV AIDS are equal to any erson and they advise them to follow the health regulations. He further revealed that their member are encouraged to use condoms effectively as well as they havee to abstain.
Gladys Mokolo a Soth African delegate declined the fact that churches discriminate eole living with HIVAIDS .She added that the Roman Catholic Church doent advise youths to use condoms but to totally abtain.
Commenting on the matter Felia Rifa of Seventh Daay Adventist Church in Zimbabwe complained that their church ddescriminate the eole living with HIVAIDS in times of the Lord Suer where Christians wash each others feeets and members shun away from the victims. She claimed that most eeole do this because of ignorance on how the disease is transmitted. Rifa revealed that their church doent tell their members to use condoms.
On the HIV/AIDS treatment the delegates complained the Health Practitioners doesn’t treat the positive patients well. They urged the Government to consider the budget for ARVs for 2008 Grobal funding shall end so that people with HIV/AIDS should access the ARVs and live longer.
Asked to comment on the matterr Agatha Mbulo and Dorothy Ngonga of Zambia National Marketies Association (ZANAMA) said that the government should sympathise with the people living with HIV/AIDS and give them the necessary help they need.
Delegates accused the cultural practises like chokolo, mitala, kulowa kufa as the most ways contacting HIV/AIDS and urged that the practises should be abolished.