A celebration at Kitovu Hospital in Masaka, Uganda.

Credits: Geir K. Lindahl/Caritas

Caritas works on behalf of those at risk fromdevastating pandemics such as HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria.

In the developing world, poverty itself is both a cause and an effect of pandemics that devastate the physical, social and economic health of entire regions.

Caritas raises awareness about AIDS issues around the world through training workshops. In 2009, it facilitated workshops in Asia, Africa and Oceania, with a particular focus on training young people.

It also published the Caritas Training Manual on AIDS in French and Arabic. Caritas is a member of CHAN (Catholic HIV and AIDS Network) which aims to strengthen the response of Catholic faithbased organisations to the HIV pandemic.

Caritas work on pandemics in 2009 included:
  • Provision of medicines and care
  • Income generation activities
  • Training for health workers
  • Raising public awareness on prevention, stigma and discrimination
  • Counselling
  • Advocacy for universal access to care and treatment

HAART for Children Campaign

Children were at the heart of the Caritas response to AIDS during 2009. Every day, 800 children die from AIDS-related diseases...

Treatment for children in South Africa

When seven-year-old Mosipho was brought to the Thabang Society in Parys, South Africa, she was close to death. She had been diagnosed with HIV in January and was seriously ill...

Training in Papua New Guinea

Caritas supports an extensive network of centres in Papua New Guinea (PNG) providing quick, economical testing, as well as follow-up counselling, under the sponsorship of the Catholic bishops of the country...

TB care in North Korea

Caritas is one of the few aid agencies able to work in North Korea. Teams regularly travel there with medical supplies to support TB care centres. Caritas also provided generators to a TB hospital in Hadan in 2009...