On World AIDS Day, Pope Francis calls for renewed solidarity
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Pope Francis has called for a renewed solidarity with those suffering from the HIV virus to guarantee care for those in the world’s poorest places.
Speaking at his general audience on Wednesday, Francis said World AIDS Day was an important occasion to remember people affected by the virus. In some areas of the world there is no access to essential care, he said.
UNAIDS, the Geneva-based United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS, said this week that the Covid-19 pandemic was undercutting the AIDS response in many places, and services for people who use drugs for HIV were disrupted in 65 per cent of 130 countries surveyed.
“I hope there can be a renewed commitment of solidarity to guarantee efficient and equitable health care, (for those with HIV-AIDS),” Francis said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says about 37.7 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2020, more than two thirds of them in Africa.
Last month Francis wrote a letter to Michael O’Loughlin, an American journalist who wrote a book about the work of Catholics who helped AIDS victims at the start of the crisis in the early 1980s.
“Thank you for illuminating the lives and witnessing of the many priests, women religious and lay people who have chosen to accompany, support and help their brothers and sisters suffering from HIV and AIDS at great risk to their profession and reputation,” Francis wrote in the letter.
UNAIDS said in its report that new HIV infections are not falling fast enough globally to stop the pandemic, with 1.5 million new HIV infections in 2020. It warned that the world could face 7.7 million AIDS-related deaths over the next 10 years if leaders don’t tackle the inequalities in the availability of drugs and treatment.
And Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, said on Tuesday that the pandemic has diverted scientific and financial resources from the fight against HIV, seriously impeding global efforts to achieve the UN goal of ending AIDS by 2030.
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