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Religious leaders to meet for more anti-Aids strategies
2007-08-11 10:44:30
By Guardian Reporter
Religious leaders are expected to meet in Dar es Salaam for a two-day symposium to discuss and lay down further strategies to fight the killer disease HIV/Aids.
The Chairman of the organizing committee, Bishop Sylvester Gamanywa said yesterday that Prime Minister Edward Lowassa would open the symposium to start on August 22, this year.
Religious leaders advocate for abstinence and faithfulness as the only and sure way to fight the pandemic, which has touched at least every family.
Bishop Gamanywa, who is also the chairman of Pentecostal Council of Tanzania and a Commissioner for Tanzania Commission for Aids (TaCAIDS), said the symposium would also assess achievements obtained from a campaign launched last year to fight the disease.
Last year religious leaders launched a campaign that sought to encourage those in the matrimonial union to be faithful to their partners as well as to encourage those out of wedlock to get married.
He said Muslim clerics would also participate in the symposium.
President Jakaya Kikwete launched a national HIV/Aids testing and counselling campaign last month calling on all citizens to turn up for the exercise so as to know their status.
Kikwete said the exercise was aimed at making the people aware of their own health status as well as enabling the government and other stakeholders to appreciate the magnitude of the problem in a move to facilitate timely and effective intervention.
Official records put national HIV/Aids prevalence at 7 per cent.
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