American Abroad Media examines intersection of religion and public health in Africa

Jul 2 2010

American Abroad Media examines how religious groups and leaders are dealing with public health issues in Africa. The program consists of five segments.

The first looks at faith-based organizations' roles in providing public health services in African countries. The segment, reported from Kenya, examines the "good deeds of some of these groups and cases where religious doctrine conflict with doctors orders" (Gustafson, June 2010). 

The second segment reports on Muslim leaders' involvement in the fight to eradicate polio in Nigeria. The director of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and a Nigerian Health Ministry consultant are among the people interviewed in the segment (Suarez, June 2010).

The third segment features two medical missionaries who have spent three decades traveling around and providing medical assistance. The retired missionaries previously worked in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda (Suarez, June 2010).

A fourth segment focuses on how religious groups are addressing HIV/AIDS in Uganda and looks at the variety of local reactions. A USAID program management specialist and an Anglican priest, the first publicly HIV-positive clergy member in Africa, are some of the voices featured in the segment (Ozug, June 2010).

The final segment is an interview with Katherine Marshall, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Questions and conflicts raised during previous segments are explored (Carberry, June 2010).