Caritas on Aids/HIV: No room for complacency

(Vatican Radio) There was good news coming out of the recent international Aids conference in Washington. The HIV virus can be kept in check nowadays with a range of better medication and more and more people are now receiving the life-saving anti retroviral drugs. But as always, there’s the other side of the coin. Adequate funding for research and treatment remains a major issue in these financially strapped times and for every person who receives the anti-retroviral drugs, there’s another person who doesn’t have access to them.

Monsignor Bob Vitillo is the special Adviser on Aids for Caritas Internationalis and was among the participants at the Washington Aids conference. He spoke to Vatican Radio's Susy Hodges.

Listen to the extended interview with Monsignor Vitillo:

When asked if he was satisfied with the outcome of the international Aids conference, Monsignor Vitillo said he was "happy for a number of reasons" and pointed to "the good progress" made in fighting the spread of the disease. At the same time, he acknowledged that funding remains a major issue: "We can't do more with less" (funding), he says, adding "we must find the way" to give a further 8 million people who need them access to the antiretroviral drugs.

Monsignor Vitillo also believes the international community must not lower its guard in the campaign to combat Aids: "I think," he says, "there's a risk of complacency and also a serious risk of false security." Turning to the key role of the Catholic Church in both treating and caring for Aids/HIV sufferers, Monsignor Vitillo believes this role is "definitely growing in importance" and noted that in South Africa, for example, the Catholic Church is the "second greatest provider of antoretroviral drugs" after the government.

The key to helping to halt the spread of the Aids virus is behaviour change and Monsignor Vittillo says although much progress has been made on this front in many countries "it's not enough." The Church, he says, "must continue its teaching and help people to develop responsible behaviour."