Vatican City – Caritas Special Advisor on AIDS, Fr. Robert Vitillo, on Tuesday told a group of Ambassadors  to the Holy See that Catholic and other faith-based organisations have been always at the forefront of fighting the HIV virus.

With some 11,000 new infections each day in 2006, the greatest burden of the HIV pandemic is felt in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 64 percent of all people living with HIV, despite the fact that only one-tenth the world's population lives there.

Fr. Vitillo said that faith-based organisations were often undervalued or misrepresented in their work. The World Health Organisation estimates that one-fifth of all organisations engaged in HIV programming are faith-based, and provide between 30 to 70 percent of healthcare in many African countries.

More money than ever before has been made available for the global response to AIDS, with $U.S. 8.3 billion raised during 2005, much of that through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as efforts such as the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

Fr. Vitillo said that faith-based organisations receive a tiny fraction of funding from donors such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria despite their strong role in this work. Global Fund officials explain that decisions on funding allocations are made within the recipient countries. However, faith–based organisations often report frustration and exclusion in response to their attempts at participation in such decision-making processes.

He said, "To meet the challenges of universal access to prevention, treatment, and care posed by HIV and AIDS, we need to match up the funds that already exist with the people who are delivering the services, especially to the poor and marginalized.

"Recently, civil society activists have proposed a dual track system for Global Fund applications – one that would allow direct application to the Global Fund by civil society actors, including faith-based organisations. It is my sincere hope that donor governments and all Global Fund Board members will consider this proposal in a favourable manner."

He cited the best practise example of South Africa, where the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference, in cooperation with various Catholic funding agencies and local programme partners, launched anti-retroviral treatment in the region and then in built capacity among its partners so that the medications would be administered properly. With the help of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference now serves as the second largest provider of anti-retroviral treatment in South Africa.

The meeting was organised by Francis Campbell, British Ambassador to the Holy See. For the full speech please visit www.caritas.org

Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organisations present in over 200 countries and territories.

For more information, contact:  Nancy McNally, CI Media Officer Tel: +39 06 69879752, Email: mcnally@caritas.va