A new three-part series on faith-based health care published in The Lancet this week has outlined the importance of faith-based organizations in achieving universal health coverage and an adequate standard of health care for all people, especially in resource limited settings and for marginalized groups.
The Lancet Series explores the provision of health care by faith based organizations and examines the nexus of faith, religion and health care controversies. The series was launched at an international conference at the World Bank on “Religion and Sustainable Development: Building Partnerships to End Extreme Poverty”.
The series argues that the extensive experience, strengths and capacities of faith-based organizations offer a unique opportunity to improve health outcomes and that faith-based health providers play an important part in meeting public health needs.
Katherine Marshall, senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and Sally Smith, UNAIDS adviser on faith-based organizations, commented on The Lancet Series, religion and Ebola. They outlined how the uptake of health services and the success of health systems' interface with communities are affected by complex interrelationships between culture, tradition, religion, stigma and discrimination. They wrote that HIV has demonstrated this clearly over many years and that the Ebola crisis has also shown that interdisciplinary approaches to public health are critical to success.
Speaking at the conference on the response to the Ebola crisis, Sheikh Abu Bakarr Conteh, President of the Inter-religious Council of Sierra Leone, highlighted the work the Sierra Leone Inter-religious AIDS Network (SLIRAN) has done to provide support to Ebola survivors and address stigma and discrimination towards them. Created by the Council primarily to support work with people living with HIV, SLIRAN was able to draw on their rich experience in raising awareness and mobilizing religious congregations for HIV services and in providing care and support for people living with HIV.
Presentations at the conference focused on reviewing the evidence base and developing specific recommendations for action to strengthen effective partnerships between religious and faith-based groups and the public sector. Both The Lancet Series and the conference made recommendations for future action and partnerships.
UNAIDS was closely involved in shaping and developing The Lancet Series and in organizing key sessions at the conference. UNAIDS shared with participants evidence on the extent, scale and nature of partnerships with the faith community in providing services for HIV. An additional contribution was a discussion on how partnerships and skills developed over 30 years of responding to HIV have been mobilized quickly and effectively to support the Ebola response.
