TANZANIA: Muslims take new role in HIV/AIDS prevention

UNAIDS on Wednesday hailed as "new and helpful" a move by 14 religious leaders in Tanzania who voluntarily tested HIV earlier this week.

The sheikhs, imams and religious teachers took the tests following a meeting with the UN Children's Fund earlier this month where the role of Muslim religious leaders in HIV/AIDS prevention programmes was debated.

"It is a small step but one that will encourage more people to get tested, especially at a community level, where people respect their religious leaders. This is possibly an invitation for all religious leaders to follow suit," the programme adviser for UNAIDS in Tanzania, Hilde Basstanie, told the UN news agency Plusnews.

"There are currently no figures on HIV prevalence amongst the Muslim population, but there are about two million Tanzanians living with HIV/AIDS," Basstanie added.

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