PSI has a history of enlisting religious leaders and groups in its HIV prevention efforts, such as Buddhist monks in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar; Muslim imams in Guinea, Mali and Nigeria; and Christian leaders, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in Kenya, Zambia and South Africa, and has been doing so since at least 1993.

Recognizing that religious leaders play a powerful role in shaping the opinions, attitudes and behaviors of the followers of their faiths, PSI collaborates with faith-based organizations (FBOs) that complement PSI's own market-oriented approach.

While FBOs are grappling to align their traditions and teachings with social issues at the root of HIV/AIDS, PSI helps them develop social marketing strategies within the context of their beliefs and shares current best practices for battling the pandemic.

Here are a few examples of how PSI is scaling up its alliances with FBOs:

• PSI launched a partnership with the All Africa Conference of Churches which trains church leaders throughout sub-Saharan Africa on comprehensive prevention strategies in order to mobilize their congregations to curb the spread of HIV. The program trains heads of churches through regional seminars which use individual and collective reflection and assessment of the effectiveness of the churches and their leaders' responses to HIV/AIDS in order to inspire in them to a personal commitment to reverse the epidemic.

• In Malawi, PSI works with FBOs to develop materials and activities for youth that focus on self-esteem and sexuality, and encourage abstinence, secondary abstinence and correct and consistent use of condoms for those who are sexually active and unwilling to return to abstinence. The program helps youth assess their own personal risk, identify the need for voluntary counseling and HIV testing (VCT) and discuss the proper place of sexual activities according to their cultural and faith traditions. PSI also works with FBOs within the context of the broader health issues affecting Malawians, making health products and services available through FBOs.

• PSI works with the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians and other FBOs to protect vulnerable girls from cross generational sex and promote non-judgmental HIV/AIDS education among youth. The programs challenge congregations and communities to protect the rights of youth by providing them with pertinent knowledge and information on HIV prevention, assisting them to avoid sexual exploitation and to support AIDS orphans.

• In Mali, the Malian League of Imams and Scholars for Islamic Solidarity and PSI have developed standard sermons on HIV/AIDS that are used during Friday prayers. The sermons, or khoutouba, express the gravity of HIV, explain the means of HIV transmission, encourage abstinence and fidelity and promote compassion for people living with HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS cited PSI/Mali's imam outreach program in its 2004 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic.

PSI combines its social marketing strategies with the influence of FBOs to reach people through churches, mosques and other houses of worship and assists FBOs in building their capacity to develop sustainable, effective, comprehensive approaches to stop the spread of HIV and provide health products and services to their communities.

• PSI's HIV programs

• PSI and FBOs: A Match Made in Heaven

• PSI FBO Activities Inventory

PSI, African religious leaders mobilize against AIDS Watch the video

Mali: PSI works with the Malian League of Imams and Scholars for Islamic Solidarity to develop standard sermons which address HIV/AIDS