A new HIV
prevention organization in the Chicago area hopes to
influence African-Americans and other minority groups
by recruiting local religious leaders to reach out to
at-risk communities, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Brad Ogilvie, founder of the Mosaic Initiative, says
the clergy has not been tapped as a resource to
promote HIV awareness and prevention to groups hit hard by
the disease. He also says it is important for
religious leaders to reverse decades of inaction by
most churches in addressing HIV. "There's no
question that religion has helped fuel the silence on
HIV," he told the Tribune.
Ogilvie says he
hopes that religious leaders participating in the Mosaic
Initiative will promote HIV prevention and testing to their
congregations, perhaps even by taking public HIV antibody
tests themselves to encourage their followers to
follow suit. He also hopes they will begin to tackle
issues with their congregations concerning sex and
sexuality, in order to help dissipate the stigmas associated
with sexual topics as well with discussing how
HIV spreads.
Plans for the
Mosaic Initiative also include creating a college
scholarship program for HIV-positive adults and sending
Chicago-area HIV-positive residents to Kenya to help
with HIV prevention work in Africa. (Advocate.com)