SUDAN: Fighting the HIV/AIDS enemy in Darfur

Nairobi, 6 September 2006 (PlusNews) - A group of faith-based organisations is teaching communities affected by three years of conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan to defend themselves against HIV/AIDS.

The lives of more than three million people have been disrupted, of which one-third are internally displaced. The Sudan Council of Churches (SCC), acting in partnership with Action by Churches Together (ACT), a group of faith-based nongovernmental organisations, and Caritas International, a Catholic relief agency, are working to prevent the spread of the disease in a culture where sexual matters are traditionally not discussed.

"People may have heard of HIV/AIDS but they do not know what it is, or how to protect themselves or care for the infected," Charlotte Brudenell, ACT information officer in Darfur, told PlusNews. "Generally, it is difficult to talk about things that concern sex in open forums in a Muslim society."

HIV statistics are hard to come by in Darfur, but according to ACT, the Sudanese Ministry of Health has been running a voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) centre for the past four months in Nyala, capital of South Darfur State, where 11 percent of the 180 people tested have been HIV positive.

Few Darfurians can afford to buy food and water, so antiretroviral (ARV) drugs at up to US$24 per tablet - when they are available - are beyond reach.

Rape and sexual assault are widespread in Darfur, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) reported in late August some 200 women in Kalma, the largest camp for war displaced in South Darfur, had suffered sexual violence in the preceding five-week period.

"The conflict has increased the risk of HIV/AIDS in our community through attacks on women, families being separated, and children and young people losing parents, so they have nobody to care for them and tell them how to behave," a recent ACT press release quoted Nyala resident Amani, 26, as saying.

The SCC has been running training workshops in Nyala, with materials provided by the ministry of health. To date the SCC has trained 375 educators in disseminating AIDS prevention messages, counselling, and how to care for people living with HIV/AIDS. Amani is one of several young participants who now urge community leaders such as local Sheikhs [Muslim scholars] to speak to their communities about HIV/AIDS, and also visit learning institutions.

Brudenell said nongovernmental organisations such as Darfurnet, a local agency dealing with gender issues, had also set up committees to contribute to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]