by Abdoulaye Massalatchi
In Niger, where almost half the population is under age 15, and the 2006 birthrate was the highest in the world, religious leaders have formed an alliance to back the government's anti-AIDS efforts.
Muslim, Catholic, and Protestant clerics all have joined in the fight. "Because of their impact on communities and households, and the way they are organized and present on the ground, religious organizations are ideally placed to influence people's values and behavior," said Labo Issaka, religious affairs minister.
Landlocked on the southern edge of the Sahara, the former French colony has one of the region's lowest HIV prevalences: Slightly more than 1 percent of people ages 15 to 49 are infected. Given the nation's booming birthrate, however, authorities have vowed not to be complacent.
Niger hopes to replicate the successful model of Senegal, another predominantly Muslim West African nation. While the Senegalese government's efforts to teach AIDS prevention and condom use were initially met with hostility by Muslim leaders, the clerics eventually relented and agreed to preach abstinence and fidelity while not opposing condom use. Those efforts helped Senegal achieve sub-Saharan Africa's second-lowest HIV prevalence rate in 2003.
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