Faith-Based Leaders Meet on AIDS Effort

Belize’s men of faith are meeting with regional authorities as part of the plan to end HIV/AIDS as a chronic disease in the Caribbean by 2030. Today there was a consultation hosted at the Radisson involving discussions of the churches’ role in reaching out to the affected in their congregations and communities. The president of the Belize Council of Churches, Roosevelt Papouloute, says the meeting is also intended to create linkages between otherwise divided faiths.

Roosevelt Papouloute

Roosevelt Papouloute, President, Belize Council of Churches

“There are many churches that have ministries reaching out to those who have been affected; but in addition to that, there are also churches that have activities and education toward preventing people from first being affected by it by living a disciplined lifestyle; because at the end of the day that’s how we can address it.   One of the goals we would like to achieve today is to indeed formalize a faith-based leaders’ network in Belize. And then we would like to formulate some recommendations – that at the end of this meeting, we will meet again, and based on that we are going to formulate as recommendations as to how we are going to implement them, to be part of that process of ending AIDS by 2030.”