A new HIV/AIDS policy by the Catholic Church in India aims to tackle the prejudice attached to the illness as well as promote access to health treatment for those infected with HIV/AIDS, reports Ekklesia, a UK-based Christian think-tank.
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Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), said at the release of the new policy, “HIV/AIDS is not just a medical concern, but is a developmental issue.”

The policy states that the Catholic Church does “not approve of any sort of discrimination or hostility directed against people living with HIV/AIDS. This is unjust and immoral”.

Despite this new policy, the Church has come under fire recently by health campaigners for refusing to go back on its refusal to endorse the use of condoms.

Anbumani Ramadoss, India’s federal health minister, however, praised the work of the Catholic Church for “showing the way” in bringing medical care for sufferers of HIV/AIDS to more “remote and far-flung areas” in northern and eastern India, which have proved more of a challenge for the Indian government than organising healthcare in the major cities.

According to Archbishop Bernard Moras, more than 85 per cent of the Catholic Church’s 3000 health-care institutions serve rural populations, with 64 centres caring specifically for advanced AIDS sufferers.

Archbishop Moras said that the new nationwide Catholic policy will show “renewed commitment for wider reach out especially to the under-served areas”.

India now has the highest number of HIV/AIDS sufferers after South Africa, according to government figures, standing at a massive 5 million. Non-government experts estimate that this number cold be much higher.