Groups examine religious attitudes towards AIDS pandemic

Attitudes towards the HIV/AIDS pandemic in a Buddhist community in Vietnam and among Christians in South Africa were examined at the 16^th International AIDS Conference in Toronto.Buddhist monk Toan Nhu Tran, through a translator, said that HIV/AIDS in Vietnam has been spread mainly through drug addiction and prostitution, activities that are viewed as “social evils,” and that attitude has been transferred to people living with the disease.Buddhist pagodas have started a program called Tue Tinh Duong, the name of a 14^th century monk who used traditional medicine to treat poor people. “It advocates and acts under the Buddhist spirit of mercy to help poor people,” said Mr. Tran. In 1998, the Danish Red Cross funded training for Vietnamese monks under the Tue Tinh Duong program, which now works in collaboration with Hanoi Medical University and with the international aid organization Care. It has also received funding from the United States AIDS initiative, The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.The Tue Tinh Duong program offers a range of activities, including preaching, counseling in modern medicine and traditional medicine, spiritual support and Buddhist philosophy, said Mr. Tran. “It is easy to access places of worship. They are close to the community and they offer confidentiality and compassion. This is because of the saying ‘Do not lie when faced with Buddha,'” Mr. Tran said.About 1,400 people have received counseling and monks’ participation in the program “has changed people’s opinion on HIV/AIDS and on people living with HIV/AIDS,” said Mr. Tran. People with the disease “are not afraid of being stigmatized or discriminated against at the pagoda,” he added.In Vietnam now, communities expect religious organizations to participate in the fight against HIV/AIDS as a social issue. In response to a question, Mr. Tran said Buddhism has no prohibition on the use of condoms to prevent the sexual transmission of AIDS.Following Mr. Tran’s appearance, Peet van Dyk presented the results of a University of South Africa study called Does the Church Deliver? Perceptions Amongst South Africans About the Role of the Church in the HIV/AIDS Field.The study mainly surveyed some 1,300 Roman Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, Pentecostals and Zionists (a Zulu form of Christianity). About 87 per cent of the respondents were very active, active or occasionally active in their churches.Of those responding, 67 per cent said they would be willing to go to their pastor or priest for help with HIV/AIDS, but only 52 per cent said they would approach members of their congregation for help, said Mr. van Dyk, a professor. “Reasons to go to a pastor or members of a congregation would include looking for support and help and feeling trust. Reasons not to go would be a lack of trust, a lack of confidence in getting help, feelings of shame and fear of condemnation and rejection,” he told the conference.The survey asked, “Is AIDS God’s punishment for sin?” and 70 per cent of respondents said no. However, the more involved people were in their church, the more negative attitudes they had toward HIV/AIDS, a finding that Mr. van Dyk said is disturbing. So, “the church will have to work on the negative attitudes of their people,” said Mr. van Dyk.In response to a question about whether Roman Catholics disapproved of condom use, since their church leadership forbids it, Mr. van Dyk said he found no difference in attitudes towards condom use among the denominations. “It seems that the people of the Catholic faith do not take their leadership from their leaders, but from themselves,” he said.