Seminar 7

Wednesday 7th May 2008

HIV/AIDS, Religion and the Trans-national African Family

Speaker: Dr. Martha Chinouya, ESRC Research Fellow, London Metropolitan University

Respondent: Dr. Kevin Fenton, Director, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention - Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Chair: Dr Valerie Delpech, Head of HIV surveillance, Health Protection Agency

African religions in the Diasporas and in ‘homelands’ have been shaped by pre and postcolonial experiences and subsequently include complex mixtures of gendered ‘traditions’, ‘modernities’, ‘Christianity’ and ‘Islam’, in various degrees. The disclosure of HIV is increasingly central in human rights debates. This is particularly crucial for people from sub-Saharan Africa living in their homelands or the ‘Diasporas’ who are the largest group affected by the heterosexual HIV epidemic. Research indicates that the disclosure of HIV is shaped in part by the context of trans-national African family life, as well as by their religions. It is an important issue for policy and practice and communities at enhanced risk of HIV infection to engage with and acknowledge serious threats to their health. An important issue for research is to investigate whether and how strategies in shaping identities enables and/or disables engagement with HIV issues. In this context, we will examine segments of diverse African populations experience of "religion".

Audio recording: Introduction by Valerie Delpech

Audio recording: Dr Martha Chinouya

Audio recording: Prof Kevin Fenton

Audio recording: Question and Answer session