Religion and AIDS in Africa

Abstract

This book provides an empirical account of how religion affects the interpretation, prevention, and mitigation of AIDS in the world's most religious continent. Drawing upon their extensive fieldwork in Malawi and survey data from 26 other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the book identifies religious patterns in HIV prevalence, shows how religion shapes interpretations and understandings of AIDS, examine religious differences in risk and preventive behaviors, and discusses the role of religion in providing assistance to the sick and to their survivors. In so doing, it puts to rest longstanding debates about whether religion has either facilitated or reduced the spread of HIV. The book confirms the central role played by religious narratives and institutions in the epidemic. But the book also highlights some important differences between religious traditions and denominations on some of these dimensions—particularly those related to the congregational mechanisms for the care of the sick and their survivors—arguing that these have implications for the future trajectory of religious change in Africa, and for social solidarity in African societies more generally.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 93 citations exist upstream.