Health

HAART for Children campaign on HIV and AIDS

HAART for Children campaign on HIV and AIDS

Children are the focus of one of Caritas Internationalis’ major campaigns: HAART for Children. HAART stands for Highly Active Anti- Retroviral Therapy. Caritas Internationalis presses governments and pharmaceutical companies to develop “child-friendly” forms of medicines and testing. Caritas Australia directly asked the pharmaceutical giant Roche to do its part in facilitating access to medication to ...

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Advocacy: Calling for a better world

Advocacy: Calling for a better world

When Caritas speaks, its voice is heard. It is heard by governments, policy and lawmakers, drug companies, the United Nations, other humanitarian organisations. It is a powerful voice, created fromhundreds of thousands of voices around the world.  Caritas speaks on behalf of the poor and the marginalised, calling for a moral way of living for ...

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Promoting Action: Caritas HAART for Children Campaign

Promoting Action: Caritas HAART for Children Campaign

By Rev. Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo, Head of Delegation to the UN in Geneva and Special Advisor on HIV/AIDS for Caritas Internationalis Let’s begin with the good news –  of a child who gained access to anti-retroviral treatment (ART) at the Village of Hope, a programme in Tanzania that is assisted by the Vatican’s Bambino ...

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Caritas co-sponsored event at UN HIV meeting

Caritas co-sponsored event at UN HIV meeting

Caritas Internationalis General Secretariat and Caritas member representatives are attending the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on HIV in New York this week, where they will be part of the launch a policy paper on the need for maintaining funding to tackle the pandemic in the wake the financial crisis. The meeting, which ...

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Highlights of HAART for children campaign

Highlights of HAART for children campaign

The following Caritas initiatives, undertaken since 2009, have aimed at increasing access to testing and treatment for children and mothers with HIV and TB: Advocating with pharmaceutical companies for better testing and treatment. Encouraging the international community to prioritise maternal and infant care, especially for those living with HIV. Organising a conference on paediatric HIV ...

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Caritas response to Pope on condoms and HIV and AIDS

Caritas response to Pope on condoms and HIV and AIDS

Why should Caritas and other Catholic Church organizations be encouraged by these comments of Pope Benedict XVI?  Comment by Pope Benedict XVI: “the Church does more than anyone else. And I stand by that claim. Because she is the only institution that assists people up close and concretely, with prevention, education, help, counsel, and accompaniment.” Talking ...

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More funding needed for children with HIV on World AIDS Day

More funding needed for children with HIV on World AIDS Day

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 ...

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