Vatican City, Nov 28, 2012 / 12:55 pm
Pope Benedict is lending his support to combatting HIV/AIDS, with a special focus on advocating for children who receive the disease from their mothers.
"My thoughts turn in particular to the large number of children who contract the virus from their mothers each year, despite the treatments which exist to prevent its transmission," said the Pope at the end of his Nov. 28 general audience.
As he looked ahead to the U.N.'s World Day Against AIDS, which will be observed on Dec. 1, the Pope underscored the millions of deaths and the human suffering the disease has caused.
This suffering is "particularly great in the poorest regions of the world, where people have great difficulty in accessing effective drugs," he said.