A workshop held June 16-18 in San'a', Yemen, helped 25 Islamic preachers, along with female religious health advisers, learn to combat HIV-related stigma and discrimination through their teachings, the Yemen Observer reports (yobserver.com, 6/24).
According to the article, each awareness session included presentations, role-playing, discussions and group work to examine HIV from an Islamic perspective. Participants were assigned to develop awareness-raising speeches they can utilize at their religious functions.
“It is very important to understand and address HIV/AIDS as a social, economic and a development issue, through Islamic teachings that provide a highly relevant framework for HIV/AIDS prevention and thus can reduce stigma and discrimination against people living with the virus,” said Irfan Akhtar, HIV/AIDS Coordinator of Progressio, a UK-based international advocacy organization that helped conduct the workshop.
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
