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| Africa North |
| Mauritanian imams form strategy to combat AIDS |
| 2010-04-12 |
| [Maghrebia] Mauritanian imams and religious scholars are working together to develop a strategy to prevent HIV/AIDS and to support afflicted patients in a way that honours Islamic tradition. Does that mean they're gonna stop porking madrassah students? No, I think it means they'll pork 'em and then stone the ones who turn out to have AIDS ... "The role of religious scholars in combating this disease and caring about its patients is important to our Islamic society," said Health Minister Cheikh Mokhtar Ould Herma at the opening of a two-day workshop on April 5th, held under the banner "Vision and Design of Islamic Mechanisms for Mobilising Support to Combat AIDS". Minister Herma praised the imams for their prior assistance in AIDS education and care. Imams "were a good example when their convoys toured the western and central African regions in 2005, as reformers, preachers and guides", Herma said, adding that Mauritanians must "win against the disease by containing its social and economic implications and attending to its patients". The workshop is a product of the US Agency for International Development's "Aware 2" campaign, launched in West Africa to curb the spread of the immunodeficiency disease. Workshop participants received a guidebook of recommendations on how to provide support for AIDS victims in ways that lessen their sense of marginalisation and deprivation. Participants also discussed how Islamic precepts can be used to encourage prevention, express solidarity with patients and combat the stigma of the illness. The training also focussed on bringing religious awareness campaigns to remote, isolated areas of the country. AIDS-afflicted Mauritanians expressed gratitude to event organisers. "As people infected with the disease, we're attaching great hopes to this workshop because imams will explain to the Mauritanian people our rights under Islamic sharia" not to be marginalised, said National Anti-AIDS Programme representative Fatimeta Ball. "We want to benefit from the support that Islam gives us as poor and sick people who need assistance," she told Magharebia. Imams who attended the seminar were fully supportive of the project's aims in bringing greater AIDS awareness to the Mauritanian public. Union of Imams chief Mohamed Ould Mahoud thanked the project for the attention it pays to AIDS patients in the country and for its campaign to spread a culture of prevention. Imams appreciate being trusted with the responsibility to change public opinion on the disease and will work hard to enlighten the public on AIDS and its consequences, Mahoud added. Mauritania was chosen to host the workshop because of its "rich and effective experiment of its clerics in combating AIDS," project administrator Dr. Martin Laourou told Magharebia. The country led an AIDS-awareness campaign in 2005 in six African countries, including Senegal, Mali and Nigeria, he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Ya' got a point, tw. :-( |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-04-12 22:01 |
| #4 Sounds just like a Lefty. Lots of pretty words, but what the hell does it actually mean? Sounds like a high level bureaucrat. The righty ones are just as bad. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-04-12 21:13 |
| #3 Don't worry Lions Of Islam! Female genital mutilation will ensure your safety from the western plague of HIV/AIDS. Islamic tradition continuing into the 9th century! |
| Posted by: Flaper Scourge of the Algonquins4926 2010-04-12 20:01 |
| #2 "The country led an AIDS-awareness campaign in 2005 in six African countries, including Senegal, Mali and Nigeria" Yawn. Get back to me when they lead a "don't screw everybody you run across" campaign. Do these clowns even know how one normally contracts AIDS? Do they care? Health Minister Herma: "win against the disease by containing its social and economic implications and attending to its patients" Sounds just like a Lefty. Lots of pretty words, but what the hell does it actually mean? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-04-12 18:43 |
| #1 ION WORLD NEWS > ALLAFRICA.com > AFRICA: FORGET PIRACY - THE NEXT BIG THREAT IS FISH GRABBING! Africa's nations are collectively facing DECLINING FISH RESOURCES DUE TO PERVASIVE ILLEGAL OR UNREGULATED OVERFISHING along WEST, SOUTH, + EAST COASTS OF CONTINENT??? FISH is a cheap but vital FOOD SOURCE for Africa's poor, espec in riverine + coastal vilages, as well as urban ghettos. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-04-12 02:07 |