By Calvin Quays| Contributor
The Liberia Council of Churches is collaboration with the United Nations (UN) in an effort to end the rate of HIV/Aids transmission is training religious leaders on the fight against the deadly virus.
According to Liberia commission the country currently has 43,000 people living AIDS and out of this number 26,000 are women , 17,000 are men while children under 14 years are about 4,000.
The religious community in Liberia too are concerned that their involvement in the fight against the deadly virus will greatly help cease transmission.
To do this the religious leaders are have ended a training aimed at educating religious leaders on combating the spread of HIV AIDS in the wake of the outbreak of corona virus.
Speaking to Liberia Public Radio recently in Monrovia marking the end of the training, Liberia council of churches (LCC)’s Secretary General, Reverend Christopher Toe, disclosed that the training of religious leaders and church workers is intended for them to develop road map in combating the spread of HIV AIDS in Liberia
According to him, the road map, when adopted , will be presented to partners as a yard stick through which the religious community will combat the spread of HIV AIDS
“We need to put our feet on the ground as the stakeholders in the HIV AIDS sector are looking up to use our sermons to educate not only our congregation but to those we are evangelizing,” Reverend Toe said.
LCC’s President, Bishop Kortu Brown, Reverend Toe encouraged member churches and other affiliate organizations to take advantage of the training and ensure that their recommendations are forwarded on time.
Commitment to fight AIDS
He re-affirmed the commitment of the Liberia Council of Churches in assisting the National AIDS Commission in combating AIDS in Liberia.
Delivering the keynote speech marking end of the training, the Chairperson of the National AIDs Commission, Theodosia Kolee, added that Liberia challenged by the presence of corona virus , which has shown to the world that during a pandemic no one can is safe until everyone is safe.
The National AIDS Commission Chairperson called on religious leaders to take the lead in the fight against HIV AIDS because they are best suited in buttressing the country’s effort to change people’s behaviors towards the prevention of the disease.
Madam Kolee’s call was contained in a speech delivered on her behalf by the Director of Partnership of the National AIDS Commission, Zubah Mulbah, at the opening of a two-day on HI AIDS raining for religious leaders by the Liberia Council of Churches
According to her, ending the AIDS in Liberia and flattering corona virus infection required all Liberians to act jointly with combined effort and make a sincere pledge that living people behind is not an option if Liberia defeat AIDS and corona virus.
In remarks, the Liberia Council of Churches’ Secretary General , Reverend Christopher Toe, said the religious leaders will endeavor to use their platforms to fight AIDS and corona virus.
