Religious leaders as potential advocates for HIV/AIDS prevention among the general population in Sri Lanka

The roles of churches in HIV prevention among youth at Nqutu in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa

BACKGROUND

 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a crisis of massive economic, social, spiritual, as well as political magnitudes. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) revealed that in 2018, there were 37.9 million individuals across the globe who lived with HIV and/or AIDS. The religion is an essential tool used by the pastors to help people living with HIV to come to terms with the illness. Therefore, it is imperative that religious leaders should be actively involved in the prevention of HIV epidemic among the youth.

OBJECTIVES

 The study objective was to explore and describe the roles of churches in HIV prevention among youth at Nqutu in KwaZulu-Natal.

METHOD

 A qualitative descriptive phenomenology design was employed. Data were collected from 18 to 35 years old participants who were purposefully sampled. Unstructured interviews were conducted to collect data, which was determined by saturation and analysed using Colaizzi's method of data analysis.

RESULTS

 The study revealed five major themes, which consisted of churches' contribution to HIV prevention; health awareness; churches' involvement in sexual education; churches' partnership with stakeholders, human and financial resources. It became evident that churches' contribution to HIV and/or AIDS prevention is beneficial to the youth.

CONCLUSION

 The study's findings revealed that churches play a significant role in HIV prevention among youths. Programmes available in churches play an important role among the youth in curbing the HIV epidemic.Contribution: The Department of Health should consider collaborating with church leaders to promote and prevent HIV and/or AIDS among youth.

The role of religious leaders on the use of HIV/AIDS prevention strategies among young people (15-24) in Lira district, Uganda

BACKGROUND

Young people (15-24 years) bear the highest burden of new infections and are particularly vulnerable because of their highly risky behavior such as early sexual activity. There is paucity of information on the role of religious leaders in the multi-sectoral fight against HIV/AIDS. We examined the role of religious leaders in the use of HIV prevention strategies among young people.

METHODS

A cross sectional study was conducted between March and April 2021 among 422 randomly selected young people in Lira district, Uganda. An interviewer administered a questionnaire to the young people in order to collect quantitative data. A total 20 key informants were purposively sampled and interviews were conducted with religious leaders using a key informant's interview guide. Data was collected on social demographics, HIV prevention messages, and awareness about HIV prevention strategies. Data was analyzed using Stata version 15 using proportions, means, percentages, frequencies, and logistic regression analysis at a 95% level of significance. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic content analysis and the major themes were generated from the participants' responses.

RESULTS

About 57.1% (241/422) of the respondents were females. The prevalence of use of HIV prevention strategies among young people was 69.4%. Factors significantly associated with the use of HIV prevention included completing the primary level (aOR 4.95, p< 0.05), completing at least A level (aOR 8.85, p < <0.05), Awareness of HIV prevention strategies advocated for by religious leaders (aOR 0.02, p<0.001), religious leaders provided targeted HIV prevention messages (aOR 2.53, p<0.01), Advocacy for abstinence outside marriage and fidelity in marriage (aOR 35.6, p<0.01), Religious leaders preaching about HIV prevention (aOR 4.88, p<0.001). Qualitative data indicated that a section of religious leaders recommended abstinence/faithfulness. Condom use was the most discouraged HIV prevention strategy. However, most religious leaders agree with the fact that they have a role to play in HIV prevention, which includes sensitization, teaching and organizing sermons about HIV prevention.

CONCLUSION

The use of HIV prevention strategies advocated for by religious leaders among young people was nearly 70%. This finding indicates that religious leaders have a role to play in HIV/AIDS prevention among young people in the Lira district. This calls for the involvement of religious leaders in HIV prevention programs tailored to prevent new infections of HIV among young people.

Knowledge about sexually transmitted infections among young men presenting to the Brazilian Army, 2016: A STROBE-compliant national survey-based cross-sectional observational study

Global burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remains high and has a profound impact on health and lives of children, adolescents and adults worldwide. For over a decade, the Brazilian Department of Chronic Condition Diseases and Sexually Transmitted Infections and the Ministry of Defense have been conducting the Conscripts Survey aiming to assess the STI prevalence and obtain data on knowledge regarding STIs and risk factors among youth.A cross-sectional study was conducted among conscripts across Brazil aged 17 to 22 years from August to December 2016. It included a self-reported questionnaire containing 74 questions, 25 questions related to awareness and knowledge of STIs and their associated symptoms, routes of transmission, complications and risk factors.A total of 37,282 young men across Brazil were considered for the analysis. The majority resided in the Northeast and Southeast regions (38.9% and 30.0%, respectively), followed by the South (13.9%), North (9.7%), and Central-west (7.5%) regions. Of the conscripts, 97.2% have the knowledge they may be at risk if they do not use condoms during sex. Conscripts with a higher level of education have almost 2 times greater chance of having knowledge of having sex without a condom (OR 3.23 CI95% 2.82-3.70 P = .000) and sharing needles and syringes (OR 2.84 CI95% 2.62-3.07 P = .000) represents a risk. Those with higher education also have an almost 50% greater chance of having knowledge regarding STI transmission from mother to child (OR 1.54 CI95% 1.44-1.64 P = .000), and knowledge of no transmission by mosquito bite (OR 1.61 CI95%1.51-1.72 P = .000), by kissing (OR 1.45 CI95% 1.36-1.55 P = .000) or by using public toilets (OR 1.51 CI95% 1.41-1.61 P = .000). Television (71.8%) and internet (69.4%) are the preferred forms to obtain STIs information regardless of the level of education.Conscripts with higher level of education have greater knowledge regarding transmission of STIs. However, there are gaps regarding their knowledge about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and the fact that other STIs can increase the chances of acquiring HIV.

Exploring trust in religious leaders and institutions as a mechanism for improving retention in child malnutrition interventions in the Philippines: a retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

In the context of persistent child malnutrition in the Philippines, the objective of this study was to examine how different dimensions of trust affected programme retention and physiological outcomes when a faith-based organisation (FBO) addressed moderate and severe acute malnutrition among children from households experiencing extreme poverty.

SETTING

We retrospectively analysed survey data collected by International Care Ministries (ICM) in 2012-2013 across 150 communities in eight provinces (Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Bohol, Palawan, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Zamboanga del Norte) of the Philippines.

STUDY PARTICIPANTS

Caregivers of 1192 children experiencing moderate acute malnutrition and severe acute malnutrition between the ages of 6 and 60 months.

INTERVENTION

A 16-week child malnutrition treatment programme called Malnourished Child Outreach offered by ICM in partnership with local religious leaders and institutions.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Programme dropout and weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) at the end of the programme for enrolled children were the two outcomes of interest. A logistic mixed-effects model was built to assess factors associated with programme dropout and a linear mixed-effects model for factors associated with WHZ at the end of the programme.

RESULTS

Trust in religious leaders or institutions (-0.87 (95% CI: -1.43,-0.26)) was negatively associated with programme dropout, suggesting that with increasing levels of trust, decreasing proportions of children dropped out of treatment. Retention in the programme led to improved WHZ among participating children (-0.38 (95% CI: -1.43, 0.26)). Various measures of social capital, including trust in religious and public institutions, were not associated with WHZ at the end of the programme.

CONCLUSIONS

Leveraging pre-existing trust in religious leaders and institutions among households experiencing extreme poverty is one way that ICM, and potentially other FBOs, can promote retention in child nutrition interventions among vulnerable populations.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Clerical Students with Respect to HIV/AIDS in Iran, 2011

In this study, knowledge and attitude of Iranian clerical students toward HIV and AIDS was assessed. Through a cross-sectional study, 367 clerical students were surveyed, in convenience sampling method, in the Qom seminary in 2011, utilizing a self-administered structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was piloted on 20 clerical student volunteers, internal consistency measured with Cronbach's alpha was 0.89. Participants' scores of knowledge and attitude were calculated out of 100. The level of knowledge in 37.33 % of participants was good (scores >80), whereas 46.05 and 16.62 % had moderate (40 < scores ≤ 80) and poor (scores ≤40) levels of knowledge, respectively. The mean score of knowledge and attitude was 58.29 (95 % CI 56.11-60) and 77.26 (95 % CI 75.92-78.59) out of 100, respectively. A significant correlation was observed between level of knowledge and attitude (r = 0.33, P < 0.001). Knowledge score appeared to be significantly higher in women compared to men (p = 0.04). With an increase in age, the level of knowledge significantly decreased (r = -0.10, P = 0.02). We could also detect a statistically significant relationship between attending educational courses on HIV/AIDS and inclusion of HIV/AIDS topics in the individual's sermons (P < 0.001). Although clerical students had shown some sort of positive attitudes toward HIV, their knowledge still needs to be improved to enable them to deliver more accurate information to the community during the course of their speeches. Having HIV-related courses as part of their curriculum or aside may contribute a lot to this.

Can churches play a role in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic? A study of the attitudes of christian religious leaders in Madagascar

Introduction

Churches occupy an important social and cultural position in Madagascar. The sexual transmission of HIV raises controversies about the role that Churches can play in preventing HIV/AIDS. This cross-sectional survey investigated recommendations by religious leaders for condom use and other preventive strategies in the context of international guidelines.

Methods

A questionnaire was self-administered to a random sample of religious leaders. The questions related to preventive methods against HIV/AIDS such as: condom use, marital fidelity, sexual abstinence before marriage, and HIV-testing. Associations with recommendations for condom use were evaluated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.

Results

Of 231 religious leaders, 215 (93.1%) were willing to share their knowledge of HIV/AIDS with their congregations. The majority received their information from the media (N = 136, 58.9%), a minority from their church (N = 9, 3.9%), and 38 (16.4%) had received prior training on HIV. Nearly all (N = 212, 91.8%) knew that HIV could be sexually transmitted though only a few (N = 39, 16.9%) were aware of mother-to-child transmission or unsafe injections (N = 56, 24.2%). A total of 91 (39.4%) were willing to, or had recommended (N = 64, 27.7%), condom use, while 50 (21.6%) had undergone HIV testing. Only nine (3.9%) had ever cared for a person living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). Multivariable logistic regression shows that condom use recommendations by religious leaders were negatively associated with tertiary level education (OR: 0.3, 95% CI 0.1–0.7), and positively associated with knowing a person at risk (OR: 16.2, 95% CI 3.2–80.2), knowing of an ART center (OR: 2.6, 95% CI 1.4–4.8), and receiving information about HIV at school (OR: 2.6, 95% CI 1.2–5.6).

Conclusions

Malagasy church leaders could potentially become key players in HIV/AIDS prevention if they improved their knowledge of the illness, their commitment to international recommendations, and extended their interaction with people most at risk.