Vatican official says wealthier nations should improve AIDS efforts

Published: 2004-11-24

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Industrialized nations should improve their efforts to fight HIV/AIDS by lowering prices for antiretroviral drugs and offering more help to poor countries devastated by the disease, said a leading Vatican official. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, also said greater attention was needed to address the growing problem of the millions of AIDS orphans. But chastity and responsible sexual behavior remain cornerstones of AIDS prevention, and educating young people on the values of life and sex is essential, Cardinal Lozano said Nov. 24 in his message for World AIDS Day, set for Dec. 1. The special day initiated by the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS will focus on how the disease is striking an ever greater proportion of women and girls and the effect this has on families, children and society. "The more this infection advances among women, who are the pillars of families and communities, the more the danger of social breakdown increases," Cardinal Lozano said. "The situation for children is dramatic," he said in the message. The number of AIDS orphans increased from 11.5 million in 2001 to 15 million in 2003, he said. The majority of these are in Africa.

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