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Abstract
An assessment of HIV/AIDS awareness, belief and practices among some religious leaders in Lagos state, Nigeria.
Akinwale O.P.1, Manafa O.U.1, Adewale O.B.1, Idowu E.T.1, Sulyman M.A.1, Adeneye A.K.1, Olukosi Y.A.1, Fesobi W.T.1, Ajala H.O.1, Akande D.O.1
Introduction: In Nigeria, religious leaders command a great respect and have legitimacy and a durable presence in local communities. They help shape social values and norms and are able to influence public attitude and national policies. This study therefore sought to examine their role in helping to alleviate the growing AIDS pandemic in Lagos state, which is the commercial nerve centre of the country.
Methods: Three hundred and fifty pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected religious leaders (207 Christian, 86 Islamic and 57 traditional) from seven local government areas of Lagos state, Nigeria.
Results: Three hundred and fifteen 315 (90%) of them have heard about HIV/AIDS, 249 (71.1%) identified casual/unprotected sex, 70 (20%) blood transfusion, 216 (61.7%) unsterilized skin piercing instruments, 21 (6%) wrath of God/Allah and 9 (2.6%) mother to child transmission as its modes of transmission. Three hundred and twenty six (93.1%) of them believed that the infection is incurable while 24 (6.9%) believed that prayer could cure it. Two hundred and fifty three (72.3%) of them do not pass information about HIV/AIDS to their congregations and 17.4% preach abstinence from sex, the use of protective barrier during sexual intercourse and prayer against the infection. Twenty (5.7%) will stay away from infected people, 67 (19.1%) will pray and care for them while 22 (6.3%) will show sympathy/pity and 47 (13.4%) will show a combination of all these.
Conclusions: The study showed that the level of awareness of HIV/AIDS is quite high among the religious leaders, but their effort in creating awareness among their followers is far from satisfactory. There is the urgent need to move the religious leaders beyond ineptitude and make them to rise up to fight the pandemic by engaging them effectively in increasing awareness, creating a supportive environment for people living with HIV/AIDS and generating social transformation.
The 3rd IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment
Abstract no.
MoPe11.10C03
Suggested Citation
"AkinwaleO.P., et al.
An assessment of HIV/AIDS awareness, belief and practices among some religious leaders in Lagos state, Nigeria..
Poster Exhibition:
The 3rd IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment:
Abstract no.
MoPe11.10C03"
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