The Islamic Medical Association of Uganda (IMAU) has developed an AIDS

The Islamic Medical Association of Uganda (IMAU)
has developed an AIDS education curriculum for
children and young people. Students learn about
HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention and control.
They are shown how to care for AIDS patients and
encouraged to help people in their own communities
who are suffering from AIDS. Teachers and their
assistants organize activities that include music, drama
and games. Parents and guardians are encouraged to
talk to their children about HIV/AIDS. IMAU gives
training to supervisors, who are themselves Imams,
County Sheikhs or appointed assistants. They, in turn,
train teachers from different mosques. At the beginning,
religious leaders did not permit the inclusion of
condom education in the curriculum, but later this
changed. IMAU tells the following about their
co-operation with Islamic leaders:
“ Perhaps the most difficult issue has been sensitising Islamic
leaders to the important role that the condom plays in
preventing transmission of the HIV virus. Some religious leaders
argued that condom education would promote sex outside
marriage, which is against Islamic law....In this dialogue, IMAU
stressed that the condom was only being promoted as AIDS
protection after the failure of a first and second line of defence:
abstaining from sex and having sex only within marriage. IMAU
argued that the third line of defence should not be ignored
because human beings have their weaknesses ,as witnessed by
the many cases of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs).
....Married people who ignore condoms often leave orphans
behind and this destroys communities...
...At the end of the dialogue, the Islamic leaders agreed that
education on the responsible use of the condom was
acceptable within Islamic teachings and necessary to defend
communities against AIDS. The condom education
component was re-inserted into the education programme
in the second year ”.
Youth