Islamic Approach to HIV/Aids On Spotlight At Int'l Conference Here Next Week
Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)
NEWS
20 July 2007
Posted to the web 20 July 2007
By Biruk Girma
Addis Ababa
World's Muslim leaders are set to convene on the concept of Islamic approach to HIV/AIDS and its implementation among the Muslim society, at an international conference scheduled to be held here from 23 - 27 July, the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council (EIASC) announced yesterday.
Speaking to reporters on the upcoming conference, Council officials said the five day conference expected to be attended by over 30 countries aims to build and share experience among the Muslim leaders on the issue of HIV/AIDS.
The leaders are also expected to reach a consensus on the strategies and modalities for implementation of the Islamic approach to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support, according to the officials.
Articulating and analyzing the concept focusing on how it could be transformed from theory into practice by sharing experiences on the implementation of various aspects of the issue using the concept would also be brought to light at the meeting, officials explained.
Participants of the 3rd consultation conference will include Muslim religious leaders, Muslims living with HIV/AIDS who are involved in advocacy, government officials and leaders of other organizations interested in promoting the religion's approach to HIV/AIDS.
Around 134 participants from 30 countries are expected to take part in the week-long conference.
The international conference is being organized by EIASC in collaboration with the Islamic Medical Association of Uganda, the US Embassy in Addis Ababa and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Addis Ababa conference is to be held under the theme The Islamic Approach to HIV/AIDS: Enhancing the Community Response, officials said.
The 1st International Muslim Leaders' Consultation was held in the Uganda in 2001 under a theme "Strategies for strengthening and expanding the international Muslim community response to AIDS" with slogans like "Jihad on AIDS: Self discipline using Allah's guidance." The 2nd meeting was held in Malaysia in 2003 under a theme "The caring Ummah, transforming the response." In the year 2000, a group of Muslim practitioners interested in using the Islamic approach to combat HIV/AIDS met in Durban, South Africa during the International AIDS conference.
It was there noted that the experiences and culture of Muslim communities in the fight against AIDS were not being adequately catered for by the then conferences.
"Thus, they agreed that these consultation conferences should be held to share the experiences of Muslim communities and chart the way forward regarding the Islamic approach to combating AIDS" council officials said.
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