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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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HIV/AIDS Behavior of Africa's Young Men and Women: Does Religion Make a Difference?
| Panel |
15. Reconfiguring the Religion-HIV/AIDS connection: challenges and opportunities
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| Paper ID | 749 |
| Author(s) |
Takyi, Baffour K.; Sotnak, Diane
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | Spurred in large part by recent research findings to the effect that religion and spirituality have some positive effect on health behavior and outcomes, studies have in recent years examined the influence of religion on the discourse on HIV/AIDS behavior. With respect to Africa, the region that has been afflicted more by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it is only recently that researchers have begun to investigate the links between the regions' religious practices and the epidemic.
While the recent interest derives in large part by the observation that Africans are quite religious, and that religion is a powerful force in the lives of Africans, we still know little about what aspects of religion influence HIV/AIDS behavioral changes in the context of Africa. Furthermore, the few existing studies on religion and AIDS in the region tend to focus on adult samples. Hence, we know very little about how religion impacts the behavior of Africa's young men and women. Such an omission reduces our comprehension of the discourse on religion and HIV/AIDS related behavior, thereby hampering our response to the epidemic among a population that has been afflicted more by the pandemic.
It is within this context that we use data collected from a sample of young men and women that has information on religion and religiosity to explore the question of whether religion promotes healthy behavior among Africa's young men and women or not. The focus is on Ghana, a highly religious country and one that has relatively stable and low HIV/AIDS seropositive rates in the West African region. |
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