by Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice
Pope Benedict XVI’s general prayer intention for July is: “That Christ may ease the physical and spiritual sufferings of those who are sick with AIDS, especially in the poorest countries.”
Following my participation as a panellist during the Regional Consultation held in T&T in March 2011 on “Universal Access to HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support “(see CCSJ’s website), I was invited to attend a two-day Regional Consultation in the Dominican Republic (DR) in June on the theme: “Putting Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention into action in the Caribbean region”.
About 60 persons from the region attended the June Consultation which was organised by UNAIDS and other partners. Those gathered discussed a new Policy Framework that has been developed by the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
A 2010 media statement by GNP+ living with HIV stated that “The new concept of ‘Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention’ (PHDP) focuses on improving and maintaining the dignity of the person living with HIV, which has a positive impact on the person’s health, and which, in turn, creates and enabling environment that will reduce the likelihood of new HIV infections.
“Key to PHDP is an understanding that HIV prevention is a universal goal regardless of a person’s HIV status. The vast majority of people living with HIV in the world – an estimated 80%-90% – have not been tested and are unaware of their status.”
This Consultation was held shortly after the three-day UN High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York (June 8-10) at which CARICOM leaders joined 3,000 people, including other world leaders, in adopting new targets aimed at eradicating HIV/AIDS. See www.unaids.org for the 104 paragraphs Political Declaration which was adopted by the UN General Assembly.
As was expected, the Catholic perspective I shared was at variance with the views expressed by most of those present at the DR Consultation. In preparing for my input, I was able to draw on the Address of the Holy See at the high-level UN HIV/AIDS meeting held in New York in June (See: http://www.holyseemission.org/).
This Address makes it clear that the Catholic Church “remains committed to achieving the goal of halting and reversing the spread of HIV by promoting the only universally effective, safe and affordable means of halting the spread of the disease: abstinence before marriage and mutual fidelity in marriage, avoiding risk-taking and irresponsible behaviours and promoting universal access to drugs which prevent the spread of HIV from mother-to-child…
“Combatting the spread of HIV…requires a value-based response which recognises the need to promote the inherent dignity of the human person, thus, responsible sexual behaviour and recognition of responsibility to oneself and one’s own community.”
These words reminded me of the words of our Minister, Hon Rodger Samuel, who opened the Consultation in March at the Hyatt stating that in T&T “we live in a carnival culture that promotes multiple partners and risky sexual behaviour; a culture in which, though many are aware of HIV, they have not internalised the messages and do not believe they will be infected.”
On June 7 Minister Samuel revealed that “there are at least four new cases of HIV infections daily in T&T, and at present over 25,000 persons are living with AIDS.” He said, “only 6,000 persons with AIDS, access anti-retroviral drugs although this form of treatment is readily available.” Although mother-to-child transmission has been eliminated in Tobago, we have some way to go in Trinidad to achieve this goal.
Worldwide, about 33.3 million people are living with the virus. More than 30 million have died since the world first became aware of its existence in 1981. 16 million children worldwide have been orphaned because of AIDS. Although there has been a 20% reduction in AIDS-related deaths worldwide (43% in the Caribbean) in the last five years, those infected will only have a chance of living longer if they are tested and receive anti-retroviral treatment – and adhere to the treatment regime.
There are many issues to be addressed if we are to eliminate this pandemic e.g. poverty and social exclusion; stigma and discrimination; the development of a multi-sectoral approach – integrating prevention, care and treatment; national budgetary allocation – in light of withdrawal of funds from most international donors; the establishment of a national Statutory Body on HIV/AIDS.
“Through its approximately 117,000 health care facilities around the world, the Catholic Church provides more than 25% of all care for those living with HIV and AIDS, especially children” (Zenit). We too can help.
