Pope Francis called for solidarity with AIDS victims
Pope Francis today, on the occasion of World AIDS Day, called for a renewed solidarity with people living with HIV to be guaranteed care in the world's poorest parts.
The Pope told a general audience that World AIDS Day is an important occasion to remember people infected with the virus.
- In some parts of the world there is no basic health care. "I hope that a renewed commitment to solidarity is possible in order to guarantee effective and equal health care (for people living with HIV)," the pope said.
UNAIDS, the UN program on HIV and AIDS in Geneva, warned on Monday that the coronavirus pandemic was weakening the fight against AIDS in many areas and that services for people using HIV drugs were being disrupted in 65 per cent of 130 countries.
The WHO estimates that by the end of 2020, 37,7 million people worldwide were living with HIV, more than two-thirds of them in Africa.
In a letter last month, the pope thanked American journalist Michael O'Lufflin for writing a book about the work of Catholics who helped AIDS victims in the early 1980s crisis.
Source: MIA