The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a report in which it says that more effort is needed to encourage greater collaboration between public health agencies and faith-based organisations (FBOs), if progress is to be made towards the goal of universal access towards HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010.
The report, "Appreciating assets: mapping, understanding, translating and engaging religious health assets in Zambia and Lesotho", estimates that between 30 per cent and 70 per cent of the health infrastructure in Africa is currently owned by faith-based organisations yet there is often little cooperation between these organisations and mainstream public health programmes.
The study focused on Lesotho and Zambia, which had HIV prevalence rates of 23.2 per cent and 17 per cent respectively in 2005. It found that Christian hospitals and health centres are providing about 40 per cent of HIV care and treatment services in Lesotho and almost a third of the HIV/AIDS treatment facilities in Zambia are run by FBOs.
According to the report, FBOs play a much greater role in HIV/AIDS care and treatment in sub-Saharan Africa than previously recognised.
In light of the key contribution of FBOs in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the WHO report says greater coordination and better communication are "urgently needed" between organisations of different faiths and the private and public health sectors.
"Faith-based organisations are a vital part of civil society," said Dr Kevin De Cock, Director of WHO's Department of HIV/AIDS. "Since they provide a substantial portion of care in developing countries, often reaching vulnerable populations living under adverse conditions, FBOs must be recognised as essential contributors towards universal access efforts."
The pilot study was undertaken by partners in the African Religious Health Assets Programme (ARHAP) at the Universities of Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal, and Witwatersrand in South Africa, and researchers from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, USA.
