Former UN AIDS envoy says numbers down but fight against disease still urgent
A former United Nations Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis warns that revised UNAIDS HIV statistics should not be seen as a signal that the fight against the pandemic can be relaxed. He says that while the actual figures could be even lower than those published earlier this month, it is only a statistical adjustment and more needs to be done to combat the disease.

Voice of America, November 23, 2007

130,000 Swazi children orphaned and vulnerable: report
Nearly a third of Swaziland’s children are considered orphaned and vulnerable as AIDS takes its toll on the country, a study commissioned by the state’s emergency response council said Friday.

AFP/Google, November 23, 2007

HIV drug resistance seen in central China: expert
Significant numbers of people living with HIV in central China have developed full-blown AIDS despite receiving free anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, a leading AIDS researcher said on Thursday.

Reuters, November 22, 2007

HIV-AIDS: Caritas Australia’s global approach
December 1 marks World AIDS Day. This is an opportunity to illustrate how Caritas Australia tackles the problem of HIV-AIDS around the world. With some 11,000 new infections each day in 2006, the greatest burden of the HIV-AIDS pandemic is felt in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 64% of all people living with HIV-AIDS, despite the fact that only one-tenth of the world’s population lives there.

www.caritas.org.au

Latest AIDS figures: Church advocates call for renewed action, not complacency
“The response to AIDS is not just about treating a disease, but treating all the factors in our society which continue to fuel the spread of the disease and inhibit our response, such as stigma and discrimination, violence and injustice against women, poverty, isolation, abuse. We see this in the faces all around us, and these numbers cannot be quantified.” Rev. Msgr Robert J. Vitillo, Special Advisor on HIV and AIDS, Caritas Internationalis

www.caritas.org.au

The Church and AIDS
Inspired by the XVI International Conference on AIDS held in Canada in August 2006, this site is a special project of The Catholic Register with the support of the African Jesuit AIDS Network, the Canadian Catholic Organisation for Development and Peace and the Archdiocese of Toronto. The site is meant as an educational resource for students and anyone interested in how the Catholic Church is responding to a global crisis. It includes basic information about the global scourge of HIV-AIDS, a theological essay that grounds the Catholic response to the disease in Scripture and tradition. There are articles on the issues: medical, political, economic, cultural and moral. There are also stories, a photo gallery and references to the many ways you can do something.

The Catholic Register

Caritas Australia has created Tomorrow’s Promise, an HIV-AIDS documentary aimed at senior secondary students and adults. It looks at the work Caritas is doing to combat the HIV-AIDS pandemic, focusing on South Africa and Papua New Guinea. The film goes beneath the surface of the pandemic and reveals its complex layers. The prevention, care and treatment strategies of Caritas Australia, its partners and the local Catholic Church networks are featured throughout this documentary. Watch an excerpt from the documentary online (Low Resolution 13.1Mb WMV)

www.caritas.org.au or contact Caritas Australia for a copy of the DVD (35 minutes duration).

Keep the Promise: Advent in a time of AIDS
The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance has launched a special Advent calendar reminding us of the issues facing us all in the fight against HIV. Take time each day this Advent season to reflect on the pain, hope and love made starkly visible in the HIV pandemic. The calendar can be downloaded as a PDF document or viewed online.

www.e-alliance.ch