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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
3312.0: Monday, November 11, 2002: 4:30 PM-6:00 PM | |||
Oral | |||
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| This session will examine the significant and growing role of religious communities in global health and the increasing recognition and appreciation of their contribution by governments, donors, and global institutions. The early history of organized healing institutions as well as the 20th century evolution of community-based, public health outreach shows a central and pioneering role by Christian and other faith-based organizations. Over the past century, governments have assumed major responsibility for health services. More recently, however, the shortcomings of excessive reliance on government have become painfully obvious and there is a growing consensus that civil society must again be a central player. The challenges of the AIDS pandemic have reinforced this trend. This session will provide a general overview of the significance of religious health networks in developing countries. Strengths and weaknesses of faith-based organizations will be assessed. The following three examples will illustrate that they are particularly well-suited for public health challenges dependent on personal and community lifestyles and behaviors as well as for certain aspects of care and support: a) the effectiveness of church women’s groups in Africa to promote use of insecticide-treated bednets for malaria control, b) partnerships between U.S. and African churches to provide care and support to widows and orphans in high AIDS prevalence areas in Africa, and c) evidence regarding the contribution of delayed sexual debut (abstinence) and partner reduction (fidelity) in several AIDS success stories and the particular strengths of Christian and Muslim organizations in affecting such “primary behavior change.” | |||
| Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the extent of religious health networks in the total global health services infrastructure. 2. Describe the comparative advantage of faith communities in promoting health through primary behavioral change. 3. List several examples of innovative examples of public health promotion through faith communities. | |||
| See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information. | |||
| Raymond Martin, MPH | |||
| Raymond Martin, MPH | |||
| Christian Women's NetWorkers Program Dorothy Brewster-Lee, MD, MPH | |||
| Linking US and African churches to meet the coming tidal wave of orphans and widows Milton B. Amayun, MD, MPH, Mark Lorey, MA | |||
| Abstinence, fidelity, and the contribution of religious communities to reduce HIV transmission Edward C. Green, PhD | |||
| NetWorkers - promoting malaria prevention through church women's groups | |||
| Organized by: | International Health | ||
| Endorsed by: | Socialist Caucus | ||
| CE Credits: | CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work | ||