December 1: WORLD AIDS DAY Message from Vatican Pontifical Council and Caritas Internationalis

PROMOTING UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO HIV/AIDS THERAPIES

VATICAN CITY, 1 DEC 2011 (VIS) - Made public today was an English-language statement from the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers for World AIDS Day 2011.

  The text, signed by Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the pontifical council, says that the Day "must constitute a new opportunity to promote universal access to therapies for those who are infected, the prevention of transmission from mother to child, and education in lifestyles that involve, as well, an approach that is truly correct and responsible as regards sexuality. In addition, this is a privileged moment to relaunch the fight against social prejudice".

  An estimated 1,800,000 people still die every year because of HIV/AIDS, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. "These are people who could lead normal lives if they only had access to suitable pharmacological therapies, those known as antiretroviral therapies.

  "Deaths are thus witnessed that are no longer justifiable, just as the pain of the relatives of the people involved. ... By now the transmission of the infection from mothers to their children, who often become victims even before they begin to see the outlines of the world that surrounds them, equally, cannot be justified.

  "Although the extension of these therapies to all peoples and to all the parts of a population is something that cannot but be engaged in, of fundamental importance, on the other hand, remains the formation, the education, of everyone, and in particular the new generations, in a sexuality based upon 'an anthropology anchored in natural law and illuminated by the Word of God'. The Church and her Magisterium ask for a lifestyle that privileges abstinence, conjugal faithfulness and the rejection of sexual promiscuity, because, as the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation 'Africae munus' emphasised, all of this forms a part of the question of the 'integral development' to which people and communities have a right.

  "In launching this new appeal for commitment and solidarity in favour of all the (both direct and indirect) victims of HIV/AIDS, we would like to thank, in union of spirit with the Holy Father, all those who have striven, often for very many years, to help them. We are referring here to institutions, agencies and volunteers who 'work in the sector of health care and especially of AIDS'. ... who, without doubt, deserve the operational support, and support without ideological ties, of international organisations and benefactors.

  "Lastly, we wish to express our proximity to people afflicted by HIV/AIDS, to those who are near to them, and to all those healthcare workers who, being exposed to the risk of infection as well, provide all possible care to them, respecting their personalities and their dignity".

CON-AVA/                                                                                      VIS 20111201 (450)

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Mr. Michel Roy, Secretary General to the 163 National member organizations of Caritas

Internationalis, with regard to the Update for the Caritas HAART for

Children Campaign.

As many of you already are aware, the Caritas Confederation has taken a

lead role, since 1987, in responding to the needs of people living with or

affected by the pandemic of HIV/AIDS and in advocating for governmental and

civil society action in response to this pandemic based on the values of

justice and charity. During the past years, much progress has been made.

Even though a cure for AIDS is yet to be discovered, we can be thankful

that increased accessibility of HAART (“Highly Active Anti-Retroviral

Treatment”, the combination of medicines used to treat HIV), has turned

what once was an automatic “death sentence” into a chronic disease.

As we observe World AIDS Day (01 December), Caritas can be grateful that

our organizations are directly sponsoring or supporting HIV programmes in

116 countries and on every continent of the world. There still are many

challenges ahead of us, however. The Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS

informs us that, at the end of 2010, some 34 million people were living

with AIDS and that 2.7 million of these became newly infected during this

same year. More than 50% of these persons are women, and they face the

double burden of living with the disease themselves and of possibly

transmitting the infection their babies (during pregnancy, childbirth, or

breastfeeding). Treatment is accessible only to some 50% of the

HIV-positive persons who need it and, despite the best efforts of Caritas

and other Catholic Church-inspired organizations, many people are not

motivated to change the behaviors that put them at risk of contracting HIV

infection.

One particular group has been especially deprived of opportunities to gain

access to treatment and prevention of HIV – that is, *babies and young

children living with the virus*. Without anti-retroviral treatment, 50% of

children living with HIV will die before their second birthday. For this

reason, Caritas launched its “HAART for Children” Campaign in March 2009 in

order to invite Caritas and other faith-based organizations to advocate

more assertively for early diagnosis and treatment of children living with

HIV or HIV/TB co-infection and to facilitate better access for

HIV-positive, pregnant women to gain access to the medicines that could

prevention HIV transmission to their children and to keep themselves alive

and healthy.

Since that time, thousands of Caritas workers and volunteers have appealed

to governments, research institutes, and international institutions to

develop and make available “child friendly” formulations and dosages of

“HAART” medicines and to adapt them for use in low-income countries where

it is difficult to maintain liquid formulations because of lack of

refrigeration. We also have been advocating for development and access to

low-cost/ low-technology testing equipment so that mothers and children

could be diagnosed earlier and thus so that appropriate treatment could be

initiated.

With this letter, I am pleased to share with you our “Caritas Campaign

Update: HAART for Children”. This report provides updated information about

the plight of children living with HIV or HIV/TB

Co-infection.  The report also includes detailed recommendations on how Caritas and other organizations could engage in the Campaign. Please follow this link to find

this report on the Caritas Internationalis website

http://www.caritas.org/activities/hiv_aids/CaritasWorldAIDSDay.html.

On this occasion of World AIDS Day 2011, let us ask God to grant comfort

and healing for all persons living with or affected by HIV and to eliminate

all stigma and discrimination toward them. Let us engage with greater

energy in advocacy for Universal Access to HIV treatment, care and support,

most especially for children living with this infection. Finally let us

recall the words of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in the recently

released Apostolic Exhortation, *Africae Munus*:

*In the name of life – which it is the Church’s duty to defend and protect

– and in union with the Synod Fathers, I offer an expression of renewed

encouragement and support to all the Church’s institutions and movements

that are working in the field of healthcare, especially with regard to

AIDS. You are doing wonderful and important work. I ask international

agencies to acknowledge you and to offer you assistance, respecting your

specific character and acting in a spirit of collaboration.*

More funding needed for children with HIV on World AIDS Day

AIDS medication has transformed the lives of adults with HIV in Nigeria. If only it was child friendly too.

29 November 2010
http://www.caritas.org/newsroom/press_releases/PressRelease29_11_10.html

This World AIDS Day on 1 December, Caritas is urging governments and pharmaceutical companies to invest more in HIV prevention and care for children and reducing mother-to-child transmission.

“We need to give children with HIV the chance to live,” said Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, President of Caritas Internationalis. “Caritas asks governments and drug companies to support better and earlier testing and treatment for these children. This is a life or death situation.”

Caritas says many children and women are still being left behind in the fight against AIDS, despite welcome advances in HIV testing and treatment.

The UNAIDS Global Report for 2010 says 2.5 million children are living with HIV. The report says 90 percent of HIV-positive children live in Africa but only 26 percent of them are receiving life-saving treatment. Fifty percent of untreated children with HIV die before their second birthday.

Caritas launched the “HAART for Children” campaign in 2009. HAART stands for Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Treatment. The campaign says cheaper and more sophisticated HIV and TB testing tools and “child-friendly” medicines are required in poor countries.

Child-friendly medicines are manufactured in specially adapted dosages and formulations. They should include fixed-dose combinations of anti-retroviral medications to avoid under- or over-dosing.

These medicines are available at low-cost in many parts of the world, but mothers often avoid testing because they fear stigma and discrimination. Ninety percent of HIV-infected infants are born to mothers who were never tested and never received medicines to prevent transmission.

Caritas member organisations have been active in the HAART for Children campaign. Caritas Australia is mounting an electronic post-card campaign to encourage further research and development on paediatric medicines. Caritas Austria handed over 21,000 signatures collected by young people to the Austrian government in an effort to increase HIV funding for poor countries. Caritas India is working with students to monitor and report on the situation of HIV-positive children in local communities.

Caritas staff met pharmaceutical companies at a Round Table on Paediatric HIV in Geneva, Switzerland in September. Caritas Internationalis Special Advisor on HIV and Aids, Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo told the meeting that where inexpensive child friendly medications have become available, HIV-positive children returned to school and thrive.

During 2011, the Caritas will focus on advocacy for lower prices with an expanded range of HIV medications; on making accurate paediatric HIV and TB testing tools available at local clinics, rather than concentrating them in urban centres; and on promoting greater access to prevention of mother-to-child transmission programmes.

Holy See on Fighting AIDS

"We Need to Provide People With More Than Knowledge"
NEW YORK, JUNE 10, 2010 ( Zenit.org ).- Here is the text of an address Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations, gave Wednesday at the 64th session of the U.N. General Assembly on the topic of HIV/AIDS.

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Mr. President,

In the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, Heads of State and Government acknowledged with urgent concern that the spread of HIV constituted "a global emergency and one of the most formidable challenges to human life and dignity" as well as a serious obstacle to the realization of the internationally agreed development goals (A/RES/S-26/2). Five years later in the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS they noted with alarm that one quarter of a century into this scourge we are still facing an "unprecedented human catastrophe" (A/RES/60/262). On both occasions they made a commitment to take the necessary action to combat this serious threat to the human community.

Given the significant engagement of Catholic Church-sponsored organizations in providing care in all parts of the world for those with HIV/AIDS, my delegation takes this occasion to note that the global community continues to be confronted by many obstacles in its efforts to respond adequately to this problem, for example, that 7,400 people become infected with HIV every day; that nearly four million people are currently receiving treatment, while 9.7 million people are still in need of such life-saving and life-prolonging interventions; and that for every two people who commence treatment, 5 more become infected ( UNAIDS: Country and regional responses to AIDS ).

Mr. President,

If AIDS is to be combated by realistically facing its deeper causes and the sick are to be given the loving care they need, we need to provide people with more than knowledge, ability, technical competence and tools. For this reason my delegation strongly recommends that more attention and resources be dedicated to support a value-based approach grounded in the human dimension of sexuality, that is to say, a spiritual and human renewal that leads to a new way of behaving toward others. The spread of AIDS can be stopped effectively, as has been affirmed also by public health experts, when this respect for the dignity of human nature and for its inherent moral law is included as an essential element in HIV prevention efforts.

My delegation is deeply concerned about the gap in available funds for antiretroviral treatment among poor and marginalized populations. Catholic Church-related providers in Uganda, South Africa, Haiti, and Papua New Guinea, among others, report that international donors have instructed them not to enroll new patients into these programs and express concern about further cutbacks even for those already receiving such treatment. The global community carries a serious responsibility to offer equitable and continuous access to such medications. Failure to do so will not only cause untold loss and suffering to those individuals and families directly affected by the disease but also will have grave public health, social, and economic consequences for the entire human family.

Particularly vulnerable are children living with HIV or HIV/TB co-infection. Access to early diagnosis and treatment is far less accessible to HIV-positive children than adults; without such access at least one-third of such children die before their first birthday and at least one-half die before their second birthday. Such loss of the future generations and leaders can no longer be met with silence or indifference.

Mr. President,

Through their global commitments in 2001 and 2006, Heads of State and Government articulated a vision of equitable access as well as comprehensive and effective action in response to the global HIV spread. The present-day challenges call into question our ability to fulfill such promises. Yet, in the face of the ongoing threat of HIV and AIDS, we must acknowledge the demands of the human family for worldwide solidarity, for honest evaluation of past approaches that may have been based more on ideology than on science and values, and for determined action that respects human dignity and promotes the integral development of each and every person and of all society.

Thank you, Mr. President.

For World AIDS Day, Cardinal Focuses on Children

Says Growing Up Is a Basic Human Right

ROME, NOV. 24, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- No child should have to suffer just because he was born in a country with a high AIDS rate and a poor medical system, the president of Caritas Internationalis has declared as the global Catholic aid agency turns the focus of World AIDS Day to children.

Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, president of the agency, is calling for immediate action to prevent the deaths of children with HIV in poor countries.

World AIDS Day is Dec. 1. Its theme this year is "Universal Access and Human Rights."

"It’s a basic human right that children grow up to become adults and yet half of children with HIV die before their second birthday because they live in poor countries where access to adequate care is limited," the cardinal lamented. "For many, the promise of universal access is coming too late."

"Too late for people like one mother in South Africa whose child died on her back as she raced him to hospital. He had an AIDS-related illness, like his two siblings who also died. The mother is now getting help from Caritas, but she faces the daily pain of having lost three children who never got access to proper AIDS care," Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga said.

It's about humanity

The Caritas president called for support of the agency's Haart for Children campaign.

HAART stands for Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy, the term given to treatment regimens to aggressively suppress viral replication and slow the progress of HIV disease.

The campaign encourages governments, pharmaceutical companies and the global community to ensure children have early access to HIV and TB testing and treatment.

"No mother or father should have to watch helplessly as their child dies," the cardinal said. "No child should have to suffer because they were born in a country with a high AIDS rate and a poor health system. Universal access isn't about geography, it’s about humanity. It’s about reducing suffering and saving lives. It’s about allowing children to grow up and flourish.”

Up to 2 million children under age 15 are living with HIV. Around 15 million children under 18 have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related illness.

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On the Net:

Caritas HAART campaign: www.caritas.org/activities/hiv_aids/index.html

Simply, Stopping Tuberculosis

3rd World Stop TB Partnership Forum 24th March – World TB Day

By Rev. Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo Head of the Caritas Internationalis Delegation in Geneva and Chairperson, Catholic HIV and AIDS Network (CHAN)
http://www.caritas.org/includes/pdf/tbforum09.pdf


When compared to the biennial International AIDS Conferences, the environment of this Forum lacked the “glitz”. The crowds were smaller, and the activists were less assertive. But the sense of urgency was just as immediate and the passion was just as evident among the 1,500 participants from more than 100 countries who assembled on 23 March for the opening of the Third Stop TB Partners Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The theme of the Forum is both straightforward and compelling: “Simply, Stopping Tuberculosis (TB)”. Not many years ago, the global human family seemed to be well on its way to accomplishing that goal by the year 2050 – as had been promised by the public health, clinical, and scientific experts.

In the opening ceremony of the Forum, we learned that the dream may not be realized – due to a number of developments, including the large number of HIV/TB co-infections as well as the development of new and much harder-to-treat “multidrug-resistant (MDR)” and “extensively drug resistant (XDR)” strains of the bacillus that causes TB. It was reported that some 9.7 million people were diagnosed with TB during 2007 and 1.77 million people died of the disease.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aim toward a 50 percent reduction in TB prevalence and deaths by the year 2015. Experts are encouraged by good progress with treatment success: 84-85 percent. However, case detection rates are still quite poor – 37 percent of such infections are not being identified and, without a full course of treatment, those who have developed active TB disease can infect others through air-borne means.

Paediatric TB treatment faces many challenges since little progress has been made with developing “child-friendly” testing and medications for this disease (see more information on this subject in Caritas’ “ HAART for Children ” Campaign - http://www.caritas.org/activities/hiv_aids/the_campaign.html ) .

What do Caritas and other Catholic humanitarian organizations have to do with fighting TB? The “mantra” at the Opening Sessions of the Forum was that we need to find new and creative ways to combat this major global killer disease that is both preventable and treatable.

One important way to do that is to expand the response beyond the traditional medical approaches, most especially by bringing efforts to the grassroots level; by forging new partnerships with government, international donors, and other members of civil society; and by integrating HIV and TB diagnosis, care and treatment. Caritas and other Catholic organizations already are doing this.

For that reason, I was honoured to present, at this Global TB Forum, some of the effective models developed by faith-based organizations and especially was pleased to do so on the Observance of World TB Day, 24 March 2009.

Read Msgr Vitillo’s speech from the forum.

Pope's Condom Comments....Cameroon

Mar-17-2009

Pope's condom comments latest chapter in sensitive church discussion

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's declaration that distribution of condoms only increases the problem of AIDS is the latest and one of the strongest statements in a simmering debate inside the church.

The pope was speaking to journalists aboard his flight to Cameroon March 17, and he was asked whether the church's approach to AIDS prevention -- which focuses primarily on sexual responsibility and rejects condom campaigns -- was unrealistic and ineffective.

The pope framed his answer in terms of the church's service to those with AIDS and its efforts to promote what he called a "humanization of sexuality" that includes the elements of fidelity and self-sacrifice.

The pope did not get into the specific question of whether in certain circumstances condom use was morally licit or illicit in AIDS prevention, an issue that is still under study by Vatican theologians.

Lest it be taken out of context, here is the exchange that took place on the pope's plane. The question's premise was "The Catholic Church's position on the way to fight against AIDS is often considered unrealistic and ineffective," and the pope responded:

"I would say the opposite. I think that the reality that is most effective, the most present and the strongest in the fight against AIDS, is precisely that of the Catholic Church, with its programs and its diversity. I think of the Sant'Egidio Community, which does so much visibly and invisibly in the fight against AIDS ... and of all the sisters at the service of the sick.

"I would say that one cannot overcome this problem of AIDS only with money -- which is important, but if there is no soul, no people who know how to use it, (money) doesn't help.

"One cannot overcome the problem with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, they increase the problem.

"The solution can only be a double one: first, a humanization of sexuality, that is, a spiritual human renewal that brings with it a new way of behaving with one another; second, a true friendship even and especially with those who suffer, and a willingness to make personal sacrifices and to be with the suffering. And these are factors that help and that result in real and visible progress.

"Therefore I would say this is our double strength -- to renew the human being from the inside, to give him spiritual human strength for proper behavior regarding one's own body and toward the other person, and the capacity to suffer with the suffering. ... I think this is the proper response and the church is doing this, and so it offers a great and important contribution. I thank all those who are doing this."

The pope's words reflected a statement he made to South African bishops in 2005, when he noted that the church is in the forefront in the treatment of AIDS and said the "only fail-safe way" to prevent its spread is found in the church's traditional teaching on sexual responsibility.

In saying that condom-promotion programs only increase the problem, the pope appeared to agree with those who have put forward several arguments: that condoms have a failure rate and so are never completely safe; that encouragement of condom use may promote promiscuity, a factor in the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS; and that reliance on condom campaigns has overshadowed more effective means of prevention, namely fidelity and chastity.

There is another factor in the pope's thinking, according to an Italian theologian, Franciscan Father Maurizio Faggioni, who has advised the Vatican on sexual morality issues. The pope sees condom campaigns as a question of cultural violence, especially in Africa, where there has never been a "contraceptive mentality," Father Faggioni said.

The question of whether condom use in some circumstances may be morally acceptable is a separate and more difficult question, Father Faggioni told Catholic News Service.

Some bishops and cardinals have argued, for example, that a married couple in which one spouse has AIDS may reasonably be expected to use condoms to prevent transmission of the deadly disease. Others have said the church's teaching against contraception regards married couples and that, because sexual relations outside marriage are already considered immoral, discussion of condom use outside marriage is irrelevant.

In 2006, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, announced that his council had handed in a 200-page study on condoms in AIDS prevention, for further development by the Vatican's doctrinal congregation.

The pontifical council's study, the cardinal said at that time, included "an enormous rainbow" of theological and moral positions, from theologians who expressed "very rigorous" opinions against condom use even when used as a disease-preventing measure to those who held a "very understanding" perspective.

The hope was that, after additional study, the doctrinal congregation or even Pope Benedict might make a pronouncement on the complex questions.

But sources told CNS in mid-March that the doctrinal congregation's action on the report has been quietly put on hold, at least for the moment.

"You could say officially that it remains under study," one source said.

Another source said that after looking more closely at the question, the church experts decided it was premature for the Vatican to make a comprehensive statement on the theological and pastoral aspects of condom use, in part because there was not unanimity of opinion, and in part because many believed that discussion of the theological nuances would only invite confusion in the media and among Catholics.

53 rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Statement by H.E. Archbishop Celestino Migliore
Apostolic Nuncio
Permanent Observer of the Holy See



Economic and Social Council





On Item 3 (a) (i):
Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women
and to the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled
“Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”: Implementation of strategic objectives in
critical areas of concern and further actions and initiatives:
the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men,
including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS






New York, 9 March 2009



Mr. Chairman,

My delegation applauds the choice of such an important and timely topic for this discussion: the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS.

To consider care as a fundamental aspect of human life has profound implications.

Caregiving involves programs, policies and budgetary decisions, as well as personal attitude and commitment for the wellbeing of others. The interrelatedness between activity and personal attitude is self-evident but not always to be presupposed.

Human beings are not only autonomous and equal but also interdependent creatures, who regardless of their social status and stage of life may need care.

Focusing on care and sharing responsibility between women and men in coping with pressing issues such as prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, child-rearing, housework and support for older family members, leads us to think of the relationship between man and woman in society as interdependent.

The overcoming of the dilemma between autonomy and dependence also favors a new vision of the work of care that can no longer be attributed only to certain groups, such as women and immigrants, but must also be shared between all women and men, in households as well as in the public sector.

In particular, it is more and more untenable that there continue to be attitudes and places - even in health care - where women are discriminated against and their contribution to society is undervalued simply because they are women. Recourse to social and cultural pressure in order to maintain the inequality of the sexes is unacceptable.

Mr. Chairman, since our debate mainly focuses on sharing responsibilities and caregiving between women and men in the context of HIV/AIDS, the very first thought goes to the primary and best meaning of care, namely taking care, protecting and promoting the wellbeing of others. In this context, HIV/AIDS calls into question the values by which we live our lives and how we treat, or fail to treat, one another.

Community-based care and worldwide support for those suffering from this disease remain essential. Home-based care is the preferred means of care in many social and cultural settings, and is often more sustainable and successful over the long term when based within communities. In fact, when many members of a community are involved in care and support, there is less likely to be stigma associated with the disease.

Unfortunately, community- and home-based care is largely unrecognized, and many caregivers face precarious financial situations. Very little of the funds spent every year on providing assistance to those who are suffering as well as on much needed research to combat the disease go to supporting them. Studies have shown that community and home-based caregivers actually experience more stress than medical personnel; so better support must be provided for these persons, particularly women and older persons who are caregivers.

My delegation would also like to focus on some aspects of the globalization of caregiving which are affecting in particular poor and immigrant women. In societies characterized by important demographic transformations, familial and occupational and inadequate welfare systems, immigrant women respond to the demand to care for children, the sick, severely disabled people and the elderly. In many parts of the world, a true market has emerged in the area of home-based caregiving, in which women above all are found in situations of vulnerability due to non-regularization, social isolation, difficult working conditions and at times exploitation of every kind.

Governments should properly recognize that the budget and organization of public institutions are somewhat relieved by family-based caregiving and should thus adopt migration laws aimed at creating social integration and full protection of immigrant caregivers and fostering social integration. Likewise, supporting an appropriate professional formation that offers to home-based caregivers basic knowledge of health and psychology would upgrade their invaluable activity and eventually shield them from easy and reprehensible types of exploitation.

Developing countries are suffering from brain drain, as many of their educated, talented and skilled human capital – especially in the health sector – leave their places for better economic opportunities in rich countries. Market-forces get the blame for this, but this is an area where countries of origin, transit and destination need to work together to help developing countries retain, or at least readmit, these skilled members of their workforce, providing suitable incentives to recognize and better remunerate them so that caregivers may more easily be able to stay at home.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, too many cultures hold that care is to be restricted to the private sphere and presupposes that it is provided in the domestic realm.

Care in itself must become a topic of public debate and take on an importance capable of shaping political life and giving men and women the ability to be more concerned for the needs of others, more empathetic and able to focus on others.

Care, in this sense, has the capacity to create a process of democratization of society and to foster a public awareness aimed at social and effective justice and solidarity for all women and men.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Cardinal Calls Poverty a Moral Problem

Cardinal Calls Poverty a Moral Problem
Urges Change in Short-Term Gain Mentality

GUADALAJARA, Spain, FEB. 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Poverty is a problem posed to humanity's moral conscience, and cannot be explained solely from the material point of view, says the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Cardinal Renato Martino affirmed this Friday in an address in Guadalajara, Spain, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Spanish nongovernmental organization "Manos Unidas" (United Hands).

Referring to Benedict XVI's message for this year's World Day of Peace, the cardinal explained that poverty "is not only of the material and quantitative type," adding that "material poverty never explains, on its own, the immaterial poverties; rather, the opposite is true."

Cardinal Martino stressed the moral "knots" in which poverty is tied up at present, which the Pope highlighted in his message: abortion, the fight against AIDS, children, disarmament and the food crisis.

Speaking on the issue of demographic growth, the Vatican official explained that the promotion of abortion in poor countries is "the most unjust of the many expressions of that dissimulated and malevolent strategy of wanting to overcome poverty by eliminating the poor."

It is a "dangerous strategy," he said, which consists in "using authority to lessen the number of guests rather than multiplying the bread to be shared."

Addressing the topic of poverty and pandemics, especially AIDS, Cardinal Martino called for "greater and more exact consideration of the intrinsic moral implications that such a relationship entails."

He underlined two ethical points for the fight against illness in poor countries. It is necessary, he said, "to make medicines and necessary care available to poor people, reconsidering the system of patents through the assumption of responsibility by the international community, to guarantee all men and women the necessary basic health care." He also called on the global community to "hasten educational campaigns for a sexuality that responds fully to the dignity of the person."

The cardinal reminded his listeners that "everything that weakens the family causes harm that is discharged on children; where the dignity of woman and motherhood is not promoted, the dignity of boys and girls is also wounded."

Addressing the topic of disarmament, he explained that "the material and human resources used in military expenditures and armaments are subtracted from nations' development projects, especially from the poorest and most in need of aid."

He affirmed that the food crisis "is characterized not by the insufficiency of food, but by the lack of a network of political and economic institutions capable of addressing needs and emergencies."

At the world level, he said, the most serious problem is "the increase of the inequality between rich and poor," because "of the technological change" and "the price dynamics of industrial products, which increases more rapidly than the price of the goods and services produced by the poorest countries."

Moral struggle

Cardinal Martino stressed that the struggle against poverty, far from implying an increase of material aid, entails a "moral change." He highlighted the need to "rediscover the natural law, namely, the shared ethical code that gives meaning to the common commitment to build peace."

He also mentioned the need to renew the norms that govern international trade, especially the abrogation of "protective, unjust and anachronistic measures" used by industrialized countries, as well as the establishment of a "culture of cooperation" among the poor countries.

Addressing the present economic crisis, the cardinal clarified once again that it is "an ethical problem," and that it is necessary to change "the mentality that reigns in financial activities, all based on self-reference and short-term gain," and to place it in "the perspective of the common good."

He emphasized the importance of putting the person at the center of the economy. He affirmed, "The problems of development, aid and international cooperation are often resolved without really involving people, but only as questions of predisposition of mechanisms, of specifying tariff agreements, of accreditation of anonymous financing, while, on the contrary, the struggle against poverty needs men and women who live fraternity profoundly, who are able to support individuals, families and communities in endeavors of genuine human development."

He continued: "It is impossible to help the poor if they are seen only as part of a balance sheet of costs and benefits, as numbers and, in the end, as problems."

Social doctrine

In the struggle against poverty, it is necessary that Catholic organizations "know well" the social doctrine of the Church, because the object of this doctrine is and will always be the sacred dignity of man, made in the image of God, and the safeguarding of his inalienable rights, explained the cardinal.

Social doctrine's basis, he affirmed, is "the truth about human nature itself, truth understood by reason and enlightened by revelation, its moving force, love as evangelical precept and norm of action."

The cardinal stated that the Church, in offering her social teaching, "does not limit herself to offer principles for reflection, orientations, guidelines, observations or appeals, but she also presents norms of judgment and guidelines for action that every Catholic is called to put at the base of his prudent experience, to translate it later and concretely into efficacious categories of collaboration and commitment."

He added: "The light of the truth of man, created by God and redeemed by Christ, is an answer to one of the greatest weaknesses of contemporary society: the inadequate vision of man." This vision, he said, "must differentiate a Catholic NGO from those nongovernmental organizations that are also dedicated to the struggle against extreme poverty and hunger."

Child specific drugs needed: Caritas

Published: December 03, 2008





Caritas International has issued a call to pharmaceutical companies to develop affordable drugs specifically for children with HIV/AIDS, many of whom die before their second birthday.



Lesley-Anne Knight, the secretary general of the Rome based organisation, said in a statement released in Vienna that one third of adult HIV positive adults, but only 15 percent of infected children worldwide, had access to anti-retroviral drugs, which can delay the onset of AIDS, Monsters and Critics reports.



"We therefore ask pharmaceutical companies to develop child friendly medication and to sell them at affordable prices. We call on governments to support this research," Knight said.



Caritas and other Catholic organisations provide around a quarter of medical AIDS relief in Africa.



Children under the age of 15 accounted for 2.1 million of the 33.2 million people living with HIV in 2007, according to a joint report by the World Health Organisation and several other UN agencies published in April.





Of these children, 90 percent lived in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2007, some 420,000 children were infected with the virus globally and 290,000 died of AIDS, according to the report.

SOURCE

Catholic charity Caritas calls for children-specific HIV drugs (Monsters and Critics, 2/12/08)

Cardinal Rodríguez on World AIDS Day 2008

“Greater leadership on HIV is still needed as we mark the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. Despite some progress, HIV is a major obstacle to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The pandemic causes incalculable human suffering. It threatens the social and economic infrastructure of the human family. More needs to be done.

“Children will be a key focus for Caritas in 2009. A third of adults who need them now receive the necessary anti-retroviral medications to live longer and better lives. But only 15 percent of children living with HIV get these essential drugs. Many die before their second birthday. Pharmaceutical companies and governments must show leadership by developing child friendly medicine for HIV and improving testing. We will be campaigning to prevent further loss of these vulnerable children.

“On the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, I am immensely proud of the leadership of Caritas Internationalis, its 162 members and their Catholic Church partners in response to the HIV pandemic. Together, we provide a large proportion of all HIV healthcare in developing countries. We advocate at all levels for an end to discrimination and policies that are sensitive to the needs of those most vulnerable to the pandemic. Part of the essential “capital” of the poor person is good health. We will remain committed to raising those assets.”

VATICAN TO PUBLISH DOCUMENT ON POVERTY

ZE08090205 - 2008-09-02
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-23534?l=english


Cardinal Says Economic Inequality a "Dramatic" Problem

DAR-ES-SALAAM, Tanzania, SEPT. 2, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace announced the forthcoming publication by the Holy See of a document analyzing poverty in the context of globalization.

Cardinal Renato Martino revealed news of the publication during a 4-day congress on evangelization last week in Dar-Es-Salaam organized by the dicastery.

The theme of the conference was "Toward a New Evangelization of African Society in Accordance with the Social Doctrine of the Church."

During the conference Cardinal Martino officially presented the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, which was published in October 2004, to the Church in Africa.

The cardinal stated that "since the Second Vatican Council, the preferential option for the poor is one of the points that most characterizes the social doctrine of the Church," reported Vatican Radio.

"Poverty and, above all, the growing inequality between areas, continents and countries, including within the latter, constitutes the most dramatic problem facing the world today," he added.

The cardinal explained that the new document of the dicastery will attempt to offer concrete answers to the problem of poverty in keeping with the Church's social doctrine.

Evangelical approach

"The intention is to point out an evangelical approach to combat poverty, to identify -- both at the national and the international level -- those responsible for combating poverty, to sensitize the Church to greater and more articulated attention to and awareness of the problems of poverty and of the poor of the world," he said.
"It must not be forgotten that today extreme poverty has, above all, the face of women and children, especially in Africa," the cardinal added.

Cardinal Martino said that the dynamism of evangelization "must drive the Church to privilege the poor, to direct our strength to the poor, to consider the renewal of society from the needs of the poor."

In regard to globalization, the cardinal pointed out that "an indispensable act of charity" is the "determination that has as its end the organization and structure of society so that a neighbor does not have to live in misery."

He said this determination must be all the greater if one takes into account that poverty "is a situation facing a great number of people, including whole populations, a situation that today has acquired the proportions of a real worldwide social issue."

Msgr. Robert Vitillo, Interview With Caritas Expert on HIV

ZE08073112 - 2008-07-31
Permalink: http://web.zenit.org/article-23393?l=english

Beyond Condoms in the AIDS Debate

By Karna Swanson

MEXICO CITY, JULY 31, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Teaching abstinence outside marriage and fidelity within has been proved to be much more effective in decreasing the spread of HIV than simply distributing condoms, according to the special advisor on HIV for Caritas Internationalis.

Monsignor Robert Vitillo, who will participate in the XVII International AIDS Conference, to be held Aug. 3-8 in Mexico City, adds that unfortunately, abstinence and infidelity are not given the attention they deserve among experts and researchers.

Some 25,000 experts, physicians, activists and decision-makers from around the world are expected to attend the conference organized by the International AIDS Society, which has at its theme "Universal Action Now."

Caritas Internationalis sponsored a pre-conference seminar Wednesday for Caritas participants from Latin America, and on Aug. 5, together with the Jesuits of Mexico and the Catholic HIV and AIDS Network, it will host delegates from Catholic organizations in an evening of prayer and discussion.

In this interview with ZENIT, Monsignor Vitillo shares what he sees as the Church's role in fighting the spread of the AIDS virus, and the role of faith-based organizations at the conference.

Q: You say a major challenge the Church faces with regards to AIDS is ignorance of what the Church is doing to fight it. What is the Church doing? What is unique about the Church's approach?

Monsignor Vitillo: As I have been privileged to witness the response of the Catholic Church to the HIV pandemic on literally every continent, I have noted that the Church's response is very consistent with its overall mission:

-- To teach people both about the facts related to this pandemic, and about the permanent values that should be the foundation of our response. This includes both how to prevent the further spread of HIV -- by observing sexual abstinence outside marriage and life-long, mutual fidelity within marriage -- and how we should respond to those already living with or affected by the virus -- with acceptance, love, and solidarity, and without discrimination, rejection, or stigmatization.

-- To serve people. Here the Caritas organizations at the regional, national, diocesan and parish levels have played -- and continue to do so -- an important role in organizing and replicating health care, social services, emotional support, income-generation activities, orphan care, advocacy and self-help programs for and with persons living with or affected by HIV.

In addition to Caritas, there are many other Catholic organizations working to help those affected by HIV.

-- To provide pastoral care to persons living with or affected by HIV.

Many people who know firsthand the impact of the virus are searching to deepen their relationship with God, especially as they face the challenge which HIV has posed to them and/or to their loved ones.

They also desperately want to understand that this virus has not been sent as a "punishment from God" -- a number of bishops' conferences, as well as Pope John Paul II, addressed this issue very clearly by explaining that, according to Catholic doctrine, God does not "punish" people by sending them illnesses.

Q: Last week 50 Catholic groups asked Benedict XVI to lift the Church's ban on artificial contraception, and accused the Church's stance of having "catastrophic effects" in the spread of AIDS. Does the Church's position against condoms constitute an obstacle against fighting AIDS?

Monsignor Vitillo: I would like to slightly transpose this question in order to emphasize my strong conviction that the Church's teaching, which insists on sexual abstinence outside marriage and lifelong, mutual fidelity within marriage, is indeed scientifically valid and has offered evidence-based proof that people who observe such behavior have been able to prevent the spread of HIV.

Studies in countries where the HIV prevalence rate has been decreased in recent years, such as Uganda, Kenya, and Thailand, indicate that people in these countries were more disposed to reduce the number of their sexual partners and/or to delay the onset of sexual activity than to adopt the use of condoms.

Such behaviors -- reduction of sexual partners and delay of onset of sexual activity -- are much closer to the Church's teaching on sexuality and on prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections than is an exclusive focus on condom promotion.

Regrettably, however, many scientists, HIV prevention educators, and AIDS activists are so fixed on condom promotion that they do not give due attention to the risk avoidance that is possible to achieve through abstinence outside marriage and mutual, lifelong fidelity within marriage.

I believe that the Church does a great service to HIV prevention efforts by focusing on risk avoidance and on deeper and longer-lasting behavior change that is necessary to make a significant impact on reducing -- and, hopefully, stopping -- the further transmission of HIV.

Q: Will faith-based organizations have a strong voice at this international conference, or is the work of these organizations seen as being on the margin?

Monsignor Vitillo: In recent international conferences on AIDS, the voice of faith-based organizations has grown stronger, but there always is room for improvement in this regard.

For the past several International AIDS Conferences, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), based in Geneva, has made efforts to organize an ecumenical pre-conference. This year, in Mexico City, the EAA has some 450 registered participants for the pre-conference that will be held from July 31 to Aug. 2.

The EAA also organizes an inter-faith exhibit booth at which many organizations -- Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish and others -- exhibit their resources. Because this is a joint effort, the booth is large enough to "compete" with pharmaceutical companies, large governmental displays, etc., for the attention of the some 25,000 participants in the International AIDS Conference.

There have been efforts by some of the conference organizers, including the International AIDS Society, to include the voices of religious leaders and of those working with faith-based organizations.

Regrettably, for some groups, including some particularly aggressive activist groups, faith-based organizations represent an obstacle to an effective AIDS response. I believe that such thinking is deeply flawed and fails to recognize the crucial and life-saving response to AIDS that is embodied in the faith-based efforts.

Some of these groups receive substantial funding from foundations, and even from some governments, that attempt to promote a relativist, secular agenda in the world.

And these groups sponsor few, if any, direct services to those living with or affected by the virus, even though they represent themselves as the "voice" of people so affected. They certainly don't represent the majority of poor and marginalized people who very much appreciate the engagement of churches and faith-based organizations in the global response to AIDS.

I believe that we need to engage such negative "voices" in respectful dialogue, but, at the same time, we must stay focused on the activities that will have the greatest impact on the lives of those who know firsthand the impact of HIV in their lives.

Q: Is there a divide between faith-based and secular organizations, or do they work together? Do faith-based organizations face any extra challenges?

Monsignor Vitillo: There certainly is positive experience and much more potential for faith-based and secular organizations to work together on those efforts for which they share common values and strategies.

For example, in June 2007, Caritas Internationalis and the Unions of Superiors General jointly sponsored a Night of Solidarity -- an initiative of the World AIDS Campaign -- to promote universal access to anti-retroviral medications.

As another example, Caritas Internationalis and the Catholic HIV/AIDS Network plan to join the "Making Medicines Child-Sized" advocacy campaign of the World Health Organization to promote medicines, including anti-retroviral medications, that are better adapted for use among children.

I believe that faith-based organizations face some particular challenges related to such collaboration:

-- Many secular groups are not accustomed to working with faith-based organizations. The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance recently published a manual titled "Building Better Partnerships" to assist such groups to understand better the major faith traditions, the values that undergird their beliefs and actions, and the strategies employed by them in responding to AIDS.

-- Faith-based groups must exercise particular caution to avoid compromising their beliefs and values when they engage in such collaboration with secular groups, and must be careful to avoid creating any scandal through such collaboration.

-- Such collaboration may require that faith-based and secular groups "agree to disagree" on certain issues and make special efforts to respect each other without compromising their own basic identity and values.

Q: What is the message Caritas brings to the table at this conference? Conversely, what is Caritas hoping to take away?

Monsignor Vitillo: Caritas participants bring many gifts and skills, as well as needs, to the table of the International AIDS Conference.

First of all, we must remember that Caritas is rooted in Catholic teaching, especially in the social doctrine of the Church. That teaching brings us a vision of the whole person, created in the image of God, gifted with a God-given, unique and irrevocable dignity.

Catholic doctrine also reminds us that, as a Church, we are a community and must act as a leaven to help people, especially those who are most poor, vulnerable and marginalized, to develop themselves, even as we look forward to the fulfillment of our development at the end of our earthly lives and at the end of this world.

This vision is beautifully articulated in "Deus Caritas Est," the first encyclical of our Holy Father, Benedict XVI. The Confederation of Caritas Internationalis has studied and continues to reflect on this encyclical with particular care and attention, and we bring that reflection to all our responses to the world social challenges and natural and human-made emergencies, including that of the HIV pandemic.

This equips us to bring to the International AIDS Conference a desire to identify more than technical or temporary solutions to this pandemic and, alternatively, to identify solutions based on values and on long-term behavior change on the level of relationships between individuals and in society as a whole.

For the past 20 years our confederation has joined other Catholic organizations in sharing both our learning and experience in responding to HIV and in advocating for more just policies and solutions to problems related to this pandemic. I think that we will have more participants from Catholic organizations than at previous conferences, so I hope we can make our presence known and appreciated.

Finally, I think that I can speak for other Caritas participants when I say that we hope to learn more -- the current scientific evidence related to the pandemic, projections for the future, effective strategies for prevention, care, support, and treatment. Of course, we will need to assess such strategies from the "lens" of our Catholic values and teaching.

And we wish to deepen our appreciation for the firsthand experience of those who live with or have been affected directly by HIV, and to engage them more actively in our Caritas-sponsored responses to the pandemic.

Caritas President Cardinal Rodriguez urges religious leaders to do more on HIV

English

Embargoed until 29 November 2007


Caritas President Cardinal Rodriguez urges religious leaders to do more on HIV

Vatican City, 29 November 2007 - Caritas Internationalis President Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga says religious leaders must be at the forefront of responding to HIV and AIDS.

In a statement to mark World AIDS Day, the Caritas President says that religious leaders can do this by helping to spread accurate information and promoting responsible behaviour to halt the spread of the virus.

Cardinal Rodriguez said, "I welcome the inspiration and motivation provided by the 2007 Worlds AIDS Day theme of 'Take the Lead. Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise'. Such leadership must be taken on all levels of society in order to respond justly and comprehensively to the global HIV pandemic.

"Religious leaders can, should, and do exercise a leadership role by facilitating accurate information and by promoting responsible behaviour to prevent the further spread of HIV, by giving leadership on providing health, social, and pastoral service to people affected by or vulnerable to the pandemic, and making tangible efforts to eliminate the irrational fear, stigma, and discrimination resulting from this global health challenge.

"I am pleased to note that 2007 marks the 20th year since Caritas made and has kept the promise to accompany the leadership of the Catholic Church in its comprehensive response to AIDS."

Progress has been made in recent years in tackling the global HIV crisis, including expanded access to treatment and increased funding and political will at national and international level. Still, the pandemic is outpacing the response.

UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate that 33.2 million people worldwide are living with HIV. In 2007, 2.5 million people - mainly from poorer countries - became infected with the virus, while 2.1 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses.

Caritas says religious leaders can play an important role, too, in demanding greater leadership, political action, and accountability from governments in making universal access to prevention, treatment, care, and support by 2010 a reality.

Faith-based organisations provide the majority of care to people living with HIV, as much as 70 percent in some sub-Saharan African countries. Over the years, Caritas has focused on building up the Catholic Church's response by contributing technical expertise in the design of HIV programmes, training, research, advocacy, and information sharing on best practises, and by linking up this response across the international healthcare community.

Please contact Patrick Nicholson at 0039 06 698 79725 or 0039 334 3590700 or nicholson@caritas.va

Spanish

Embargoed until 29 November 2007

El Presidente de Caritas exhorta a los líderes religiosos para un mayor empeño en la lucha contra el SIDA

Ciudad del Vaticano, 29 de noviembre 2007 - El Presidente de Caritas Internationalis, el Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, exhorta a los líderes religiosos para que estén siempre en la vanguardia de la lucha contra el VIH y el SIDA.

En unas declaraciones, en ocasión del Día Mundial del SIDA, el Presidente de Caritas Internationalis asegura que los líderes religiosos pueden ayudar a difundir información detallada y a promover un comportamiento responsable, con el fin de frenar la difusión del virus.

El Cardinal Rodríguez afirma: "Es de particular inspiración y motivación el tema elegido este año para conmemorar el Día Mundial del SIDA: 'Asume el liderazgo. Detener el SIDA. Mantener la promesa'. Ese liderazgo tiene que ser asumido en todos los planos de la sociedad, con el fin de responder de manera adecuada y exhaustiva a la pandemia del VIH."

"Los líderes religiosos pueden, y deben, ejercer un rol relevante, facilitando información minuciosa y promoviendo un comportamiento responsable, en la prevención de la ulterior difusión del VIH. Deben ser líderes en la provisión de servicios de salud y pastorales a los afectados por o vulnerables a la pandemia. Además, hay que hacer tangibles los esfuerzos para eliminar el temor irracional, el estigma y la discriminación, derivados de este reto a la salud mundial."

"He notado con satisfacción que el 2007 marca el 20.º año desde que Caritas hizo, y todavía mantiene, la promesa de acompañar a los líderes de la Iglesia católica en su respuesta exhaustiva al SIDA."

Ha habido progresos en los últimos años, en nuestra lucha mundial contra el SIDA, como un mayor acceso al tratamiento y el incremento de fondos, así como voluntad política, en ámbito nacional e internacional. Aunque la difusión de la pandemia es todavía mayor que la respuesta.

ONUSIDA y la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) estiman que 33,2 millones de personas de todo el mundo viven con el VIH. En el 2007, 2,5 millones de personas - sobre todo en los países más pobres - se contagiaron, mientras 2,1 millones de personas murieron a causa de enfermedades relacionadas con el SIDA.

Para Caritas, los líderes religiosos pueden desempeñar un rol importante también, exigiendo mayor liderazgo, acción política y responsabilidad de los gobiernos, haciendo realidad el acceso universal a la prevención, los tratamientos, la asistencia y la ayuda para 2010.

Las organizaciones confesionales son la que ofrecen la mayor parte de la asistencia a las personas que viven con el VIH, tanto como el 70% en los países del África subsahariana. Con los años, Caritas se ha centrado en consolidar la respuesta de la Iglesia católica, contribuyendo con nuestras capacidades en el diseño de programas sobre el VIH, capacitación, investigación, incidencia e información sobre mejores prácticas, así como vinculando esta respuesta a toda la comunidad internacional de la asistencia sanitaria.

Contactar: Patrick Nicholson - 0039 06 698 797 25; 0039 334 3590 700 o nicholson@caritas.va

French

Embargoed until 29 November 2007

Le Président de Caritas, le cardinal Rodriguez, exhorte les dirigeants religieux à faire davantage pour lutter contre le VIH

Cité du Vatican, le 29 novembre 2007 - Le Président de Caritas Internationalis, le cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, estime que les dirigeants religieux doivent être au tout premier rang de la lutte contre le VIH et le sida.

Dans une déclaration marquant la Journée mondiale du sida, le Président de Caritas a expliqué que, pour ce faire, les dirigeants religieux devaient contribuer à diffuser des informations exactes et promouvoir les comportements responsables pour stopper la propagation du virus.

Le cardinal Rodriguez a déclaré "Je me réjouis de l'inspiration et de la motivation fournies par le thème de la Journée mondiale du sida 2007 'Appel au leadership. Stop sida. Tenez la promesse'. Ce leadership doit être pris à tous les niveaux de la société si l'on veut répondre à la pandémie mondiale du VIH avec justesse et dans sa totalité.

"Les dirigeants religieux peuvent assurer, doivent assurer et assurent effectivement un rôle de leadership, en contribuant à diffuser des informations exactes et en promouvant les comportements responsables pour prévenir la poursuite de la propagation du VIH, en prenant des initiatives visant la fourniture de services sanitaires, sociaux et pastoraux aux personnes touchées par la pandémie, ou qui y sont exposées, et en faisant des efforts tangibles pour éliminer la peur irrationnelle, la stigmatisation et la discrimination générées par cet enjeu de santé mondial.

"Je suis heureux de constater que 2007 marque la 20ème année depuis que Caritas a fait et tenu la promesse d'accompagner le leadership de l'Eglise catholique dans sa réponse globale face au sida".

Des progrès ont été faits ces dernières années pour traiter la crise mondiale du VIH, y compris l'accès élargi au traitement et le financement et la volonté politique accrus aux échelons national et international. Mais la pandémie continue à aller plus vite que la réponse.

L'ONUSIDA et l'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) estiment que 33,2 millions de personnes dans le monde vivent avec le VIH. En 2007, 2,5 millions de personnes - essentiellement des pays les plus pauvres - ont été infectées par le virus tandis que 2,1 millions sont décédées de maladies opportunistes liées au sida.

Caritas estime que les dirigeants religieux peuvent également jouer un rôle important, en demandant davantage de leadership, d'action politique et de responsabilité de la part des gouvernements pour que l'accès universel d'ici à 2010 à la prévention, au traitement, à la prise en charge et à l'appui en matière de VIH devienne réalité.

Les organisations confessionnelles fournissent la majorité des soins aux personnes vivant avec le VIH, par exemple, jusqu'à 70% dans certains pays de l'Afrique subsaharienne. Au fil des ans, Caritas s'est attachée à élaborer la réponse de l'Eglise catholique, en apportant des contributions sous la forme de connaissances techniques pour la conception de programmes relatifs au VIH, formations, recherche, actions de plaidoyer et partage des informations sur les meilleures pratiques, et en intégrant cette réponse dans la communauté sanitaire internationale.