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Abstract
Increasingly, faith-based organisations are being asked to participate in HIV prevention and care activities. This paper presents formative research on HIV/AIDS prevention messages, activities and policies within six religious institutions in Cross River State, Nigeria, at urban and rural sites. Data collection methods included a review of written HIV policies gathered from national church and mosque offices and 48 key informant interviews. The study highlights differences in messages between mainstream and Pentecostal Christians and Muslims. Although all groups stated a core message of abstinence outside marriage and faithfulness within marriage, Pentecostal churches tended to have more messages of punishment and condemnation for people infected with HIV. Urban churches/mosques tended to have more HIV resources and programmes. Attitudes towards condom use varied by denomination and individual; although few saw a role for religious institutions to promote condoms there were exceptions voiced. These findings indicate that religious organisations are already playing a role in HIV prevention but their responses are not uniform. Public health organisations and policy-makers should be aware of these denominational differences as they engage with religious institutions and leaders in HIV prevention and care.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the research assistants, Dr Chike Ekeopara, Christopher Aruku and Iquo Nkuda, for their valuable roles. Further, we would like to express our appreciation to Drs Margaret Farley and the late Letty Russell for suggestions on early drafts. This work was supported by the Fogarty International Centre, National Institutes of Health Training in HIV Prevention & Care Research in South Africa, D43 TW05808, through a grant from the Yale University Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS.