December 1st is World AIDS Day – and this year international organizations
are highlighting that prejudice against people living with HIV still poses a major
obstacle in the fight against the epidemic, especially for women and children.
In
response, Caritas Internationalis is urging governments and pharmaceutical companies
to invest more in HIV prevention and care for children and reducing mother-to-child
transmission.
Caritas launched the “HAART for Children” campaign in 2009,
which says cheaper and more sophisticated HIV and TB testing tools and “child-friendly”
medicines are required in poor countries.
“While we’ve made a great deal of
progress in getting more medicines available for adults living with HIV – and therefore
helping them to live longer – there still are many children who do not have access
to the medicines,” says Msgr Robert Vitillo, Special Advisor on HIV/AIDS for Caritas
Internationalis.
“Also we need many more medicines developed for use with
children because the disease has a different kind of progression in children than
it does for adults.”
Although medicines are available at low-cost in many parts
of the world, mothers often avoid testing because they fear stigma and discrimination.
Msgr
Vitillo is shocked to see that prejudice is still widespread.
“It’s very important
that Caritas and other Catholic organizations that are responding to HIV to help local
communities understand the situation of HIV and especially to encourage our parishes
and our church communities not to reject people with HIV, but rather to welcome them,
care for them and to make sure they’re getting medical treatment.”
Listen
to Msgr Robert Vitillo’s full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: