Evidence Based Research Prompts Faith Leader into Action Against Stigma and Discrimination

People attend behaviour change communication training.

Recognising that faith-based organizations (FBOs) in the Caribbean are highly influential on public opinion and thus can play a leadership role in the fight against HIV/AIDS, CHAA revised its strategy to reach this group by carrying out an assessment of FBOs to undertake HIV/AIDS programming within four countries of the Eastern Caribbean including St. Kitts and Nevis. The study, which was conducted in joint collaboration with CHAA's partner agency the University of California, San Francisco and funded by USAID, highlighted that while many religious denominations had initiated HIV/AIDS programs within their membership, HIV/AIDS remained a stigmatized infection in many religious organizations.

The research findings sparked interest in a very dynamic faith leader, Bishop Ron Dublin-Collins, President of the St Kitts Evangelical Association (SKEA). In March 2010, the SKEA, in partnership with CHAA, convened a conference that brought together some forty pastors and ministers of the evangelical community to address the issue of stigma and discrimination. The workshop examined the stigma, discrimination and prejudice faced by people living with HIV in the Church community, and explored the social, economic and medical repercussions of HIV for those living with the virus. Bishop Dublin-Collins, who also served as coordinator of the workshop, challenged the Christian leaders to "speak out against stigma and discrimination, and to recognise that the Church also has a role to speak out prophetically against the injustices which perpetuate poverty and encourage the spread of HIV and to fulfill their duty to support people with HIV in a bold and open way."

The SKEA has committed itself to step up the church's engagement in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The workshop concluded with the development of an action framework for the Evangelical Association's response to HIV/AIDS in St. Kitts and Nevis and the commitment by the church leaders to clearly and consistently promote the message that discrimination is unacceptable and to educate the evangelical community to care for and accept those living with HIV and AIDS to actively involve them in their local church and community.

In contrast to the response in 2009, one year later, the faith-based community in St Kitts and Nevis has come a long way in positioning itself to impact the HIV/AIDS epidemic in St Kitts and Nevis.