Rome, Italy, Apr 20, 2016 / 05:01 am
The goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat is achievable if attention is focused on children infected with HIV, participants in a recent conference held by Caritas International emphasized.
Monsignor Robert Vitillo, who has been involved in healthcare issues for 30 years, said there is already progress.
"Thirty years ago, we could only accompany people to a dignified death. There was no treatment," he told CNA. "At the moment, there is still no cure, but drugs can let you live. Some children have been under treatment for more than 10 years. They get older, they have a future."
"We need to do more, as only 45 percent of needy people have access to drugs, while the rest of the world is sentenced to death," said the monsignor, who heads Caritas International's delegation to the United Nations in Geneva.
He was one of the participants in a conference on AIDS held in Rome April 11-13 at the Vatican Secretariat of State's Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital. The event was organized by Caritas International, the Catholic umbrella organization that includes more than 160 Catholic relief agencies all over the world.
Msgr. Vitillo saw three main reasons why children do not have access to HIV treatment.
"First, the drugs are very expensive: costs are lower now, but in most poor countries the access to treatment costs $100 per year. It is too much for a poor person," he explained. "More international solidarity is needed."
He then noted the difficulty in diagnosing AIDS in a young child.