Canon Karanja Challenges Religious Leaders on HIV/AIDS

Much can be achieved in the fight against HIV and AIDS  if Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) are fully involved. This is according to the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) General Secretary Reverend Canon Peter Karanja. Speaking during a breakfast meeting with the National Aids Control Council (NACC) Director Dr. Nduku KIlonzo, Canon Karanja said that though  a lot of progress had been made, the number of those infected were still high.

At the same time Canon Karanja challenged religious leaders in the Country to proactively participate in the war against the scourge. “Religious leaders across the cultural divide,have generally perceived and approached HIV and AIDS as a sexual and moral issue. Most of them have shied away from taking a proactive role in the fight against HIV/Aids”.  He added that efforts to promote and scale up HIV testing, counseling, preventive and treatment have been systematically frustrated in the faith sector.

The sentiments were echoed by Dr. Nduku who also challenged FBOs to begin addressing the contentious issue of sexuality. She said that HIV and AIDS should be looked at as part of the human life and not disease. “It is how we address the challenges around HIV and AIDS. NACC is ready to provide the tools required to support action”, she said.

Also present during the meeting were NCCK Deputy General Secretary Oliver Kisaka, Christian Aid Country Director Dr. John Kituyi, Anglican Church Rtd Arch Bishop Benjamin Nzimbi, Sheikh Abdilatif of the SUPKEM among others.

The meeting was convened ostensibly to appraise the director on the National Action Plan for Faith Based Organizations. The development of the plan was informed by recommendations from the report of the 2011 National Religious Leaders Convention on HIV Prevention that  adopted the theme: Doing More and Doing Better: Towards Zero New Infections due to frustrations in promoting and scaling up of HIV testing.

Much can be achieved in the fight against HIV and AIDS  if Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) are fully involved. This is according to the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) General Secretary Reverend Canon Peter Karanja. Speaking during a breakfast meeting with the National Aids Control Council (NACC) Director Dr. Nduku KIlonzo, Canon Karanja said that though  a lot of progress had been made, the number of those infected were still high.

At the same time Canon Karanja challenged religious leaders in the Country to proactively participate in the war against the scourge. “Religious leaders across the cultural divide,have generally perceived and approached HIV and AIDS as a sexual and moral issue. Most of them have shied away from taking a proactive role in the fight against HIV/Aids”.  He added that efforts to promote and scale up HIV testing, counseling, preventive and treatment have been systematically frustrated in the faith sector.

The sentiments were echoed by Dr. Nduku who also challenged FBOs to begin addressing the contentious issue of sexuality. She said that HIV and AIDS should be looked at as part of the human life and not disease. “It is how we address the challenges around HIV and AIDS. NACC is ready to provide the tools required to support action”, she said.

Also present during the meeting were NCCK Deputy General Secretary Oliver Kisaka, Christian Aid Country Director Dr. John Kituyi, Anglican Church Rtd Arch Bishop Benjamin Nzimbi among others.

The meeting was convened ostensibly to appraise the director on the National Action Plan for Faith Based Organizations. The development of the plan was informed by recommendations from the report of the 2011 National Religious Leaders Convention on HIV Prevention that  adopted the theme: Doing More and Doing Better: Towards Zero New Infections due to frustrations in promoting and scaling up of HIV testing.