ON WORLD AIDS DAY
Religions Can Help Fight
against AIDS and Drugs
Dr. Raghbir Singh Bains O.B.C.
World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1. The day is
celebrated to inform and educate people of all ages about HIV
and AIDS which is the biggest challenge humanity has had to deal
with in the world. There are more than 40 million HIV-infected
people in the world; nearly 30 million of those are in Africa,
mostly sub-Saharan Africa. According to revised number of HIV-AIDS
by the Government, India has approximately 3 million AIDS sufferers
in 2007. Punjab is also undergoing a strong attack of AIDS. Approximately
14,000 new HIV infections occur daily around the world and this
is an alarming call to the global society. Although prediction
of AIDS in the world is not possible but it is estimated that
the number of people likely to be living with HIV/AIDS by 2010
would be touching between 50-70 million cases.
The UN has predicted similar trends, estimating that China will
leap upto 10 million cases of AIDS by 2010 and India will jump
to 20-25 million cases. Similarly, Nigeria will have 10-15 million,
Ethopia 7-10 million and Russian Federation will touch 5-8 million
cases of AIDS by 2010. There were more than 1.2 million HIV/AIDS
cases in USA and around 60,000 cases in Canada in 2006 which figure
is likely to rise in the coming years.
It is evident that HIV/Aids has now set to become South Asia's
biggest public health and ‘Life-threatening challenge’.
According to experts, 90 per cent of the 3 million people suffering
from HIV / AIDS in India and likewise in Africa never knew that
they had the virus until they were tested to be at an advanced
stage.
The stigma around AIDS is very strong as sex and drugs are involved
in its formation. People suffering from HIV / AIDS face a number
of challenges, including episodes of illness, transitional blames,
abhorrence, financial difficulties, social isolation, side effects
from medications and long-term effects from the virus.
I studied the menace of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.
Shame shrouding around the disease is the same every where in
the world. It has been my personal experience that about ten years
ago I was discouraged and tried to be dispirited by number of
religious and social organizations during my tour to Punjab (India),
asking me not to talk about this nuke evil in public. The community
leaders at that time were under the wrong perception that talking
about pre-marital, extra-marital sex, infidelity and adultery
in public was immoral and unethical
As a result of notional misunderstanding of philosophy, religions
in the past denounced those who fell ill with the virus that causes
AIDS. Such religious forerunners advocated that fate of the victims
was divine punishment for their immoral behaviour. They believed
that those who die of AIDS, will go direct to hell.
Surely, the followers at that time fell short to understand the
inner depth of the religious concepts. They forgot to conceptualize
that service to sick, needy and vulnerable people was in fact
the leading service to the humanity. Inattentiveness of social
and religious overlords provided little or no support or co-operation
to people struggling against the disease due to the nature of
its main modes of transmission, including sex chaos and intravenous
drug use. Instead of helping the needy people, even the political
leaders used human beings either as a commodity or an object of
political manipulation or an element of the production and consumption
machine only. However, the community activists working in the
field of AIDS knew at that time that the main weapon in their
battle would always be education and self-empowerment but the
kind of locked thinking by religious and political leaders blocked
the flow of information to people who really needed it.
Times and perceptions have changed rapidly. The world is burning.
AIDS has become a major threat to life. Progressive people have
now gained knowledge as to how the fatal disease would harm their
homes, hearth, community, country and the world at large. To combat
the menace of HIV/AIDS, enlightened men and women devoted in the
service of their religious faith and political system have now
understood that they have a role to play in helping the present
and future victims of a dreaded epidemic. There is no denying
the fact that spiritual and religious leaders hold considerable
sway over the grass root masses. People have faith in them. The
cooperation of these leaders to generate awareness about AIDS
will highly be effective. At the same time, we know that the religious
leaders have some reservations. Total abstinence from sex outside
the sacred bond of marriage has to be advocated by them. It is
good that they are idealist but at the same time they need to
be realistic also. If they want to focus on abstinence and fidelity
while leaving condoms and harm-reduction to others, that is fine.
Religion provides us with important moral and ethical guidelines
and supports us in addressing the day to-day problems mounting
in the society. Keeping in view the universal challenges thrown
out by HIV/AIDS, the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib (temporal
and spiritual throne of the Sikhs) issued an appeal to the global
people during the year 2006 andagain in 2007 to help curb the
menace of AIDS in the world. The Jathedar also led the huge rally
from Amritsar to Khadur Sahib (India) in which thousands of youth
participated. Such constructive campaigns are needed to be organized
by other religious and spiritual leaders to stem the transmission
of HIV.
Although AIDS problem by no means is limited to be dealt with
by religious organizations only but the role of religion in combating
HIV/Aids can be most helpful when this menace is killing millions
of religious and non-religious people alike over this earth. It
is duty of every one of us to avoid painful, fatal and humiliating
illness and to take obvious steps to prevent the worldwide catastrophe
that has occurred. In day to-day service, public expects from
the religio-influentials that they create awareness about AIDS
in temples, Gurdwaras churches, mosques, worship places and synagogues.
People listen and respect them because of their religious status
in the society and this will help human beings.
Majority of the youth between the ages of 15-24 years are most
vulnerable to drugs and sexing anarchy. Academics, writers and
social activists need to line up projects and find ‘prevention
strategies’ in this respect by holding seminars, interactive
workshops and producing literature by using the new technology
with the help of media. Their cooperation with HIV/AIDS workers
to change the drugging behaviour, sexing chaos, unbridled attitudes
and priorities of public in general will highly be effective in
combating the most life consuming disease. However, it is not
an easy answer or quick fix step. It requires an honest commitment
of time, energy, thought and monetary help for which the rewards
would be great for those who hang in there.
Human life is a gift of the Almighty Lord. Our sacred
duty is to preserve it. Millions of Drug and AIDS ridden victims
are succumbing to death every year while others are waiting
for fatality. To save the new souls, religious heads and political
leaders can play a constructive role by creating awareness about
the importance of human beings in the society. Social evils are
serious issues to be dealt with in culture and our societal order.
The religious overlords have a universal treasure of principles
relating to family life, married life, and sexuality. They have
extensive networks of people, institutions and infrastructure
throughout world. This is the time for them to standup, contribute
and rally to become a solid force to deal with the issues of sexing
and drugging behaviour in the society to save the burning world
from the epidemic of Drugs and HIV / AIDS.
The religio-icones must start combined initiatives aiming at spreading
awareness, ongoing prevention, reducing barriers to early diagnosis
of HIV / AIDS infection and encouraging access to quality medical
service amongst youth and general public. We all can make a difference
in helping to bring an end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, regardless
of our background, expertise, caste, colour and creed.
Dr. Raghbir Singh Bains is an active drug therapist, encyclopaedist
and a museologist. He can be reached at +604-599-1314 in Canada
and these days at +91-98727-90915 in India.