Programme of Study on HIV and Family Education

"If there was HIV/AIDS during Jesus, time, definitely the Evangelist Mathew would have added one more sentence to chapter 25 of his version of the Gospel. It would have read, "When I was infected with HIV/AIDS, you cared for my needs", said Mr. Oscar Fernadez, Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India and the Chairman for Indian Parliamentarians’ Forum for HIV/AIDS. The minister was inaugurating a three days National Consultation on Health and HIV/AIDS Policies of the Catholic Church in India on 27th September at Heritage Village Resort at Manesar, near New Delhi. The function was presided over by Archbishop Bernard Mores, the Chairman of the CBCI Health Commission. The Archbishop reminded the challenging mission of each follower of the Divine Healer in being a Good Samaritan today, in spite of the growing exigencies in the society, especially in area of healthcare.
Addressing the gathering, Meri Sennitt, the Division head of programs on HIV/AIDS, USAID, emphasised the need to scale up the interventions of the Church in India in the field of HIV/AIDS, especially in prevention, care and support and addressing the stigma and discrimination. The Consultation was organised to discuss in detail the draft of the revised Health Policy and the new draft of the HIV/AIDS Policy of the Catholic Church in India. The Drafts were prepared after series of workshops and consultations, through the initiative of the CBCI Health Commission, with technical assistance from the Policy Project of the Futures Group and with the financial support of USAID. The participants for the national consultation included by 11 bishops, and over 40 other representatives from national and international organizations like, Catholic Medical Mission Board, Catholic Relief Services, Caritas India, Catholic Health Association of India, Sister Doctors’ Forum of India, Conference of Religious India, Secretaries of CBCI Commissions and doctors and other experts. At the valedictory function, Dr. Robert Clay, director of the Office of Population, Health and Nutrition, USAID, appreciated the process of participatory formulation of the draft policy, which will be further discussed in various regional fora before it is formally promulgated by the CBCI.
The regional consultations to be completed by the end of December 2004, are coordinated by Catholic Health Association of India, in collaboration with CBCI Health Commission and the Futures, for which a training of the nodal trainers was held from 13 to 14 October, 2004, at the Headquarters of CHAI in Secunderabad.

Colloquium on "Ethical Issues in HIV/AIDS: A Catholic Perspective" jointly organized by CBCI Commissions of Doctrine and Health, in Delhi

Colloquium on "Ethical Issues in HIV/AIDS: A Catholic Perspective" jointly organized by CBCI Commissions of Doctrine and Health, in Delhi Moral theologians and medical personnel came together for a colloquium on Ethical issues in HIV/AIDS on September 25 and 26 at the CBCI Centre, New Delhi. Bishop Thomas Dabre, Bishop of Vasai and Chairman of the CBCI Doctrinal Commission, in the opening address identified certain cross cutting issues in HIV/AIDS with a theological perspective. Archbishop Oswald Gracious moved on to the canonical concerns in marriage and HIV/AIDS. The redemptorist moral theologian, Clement Campos spoke on issues on sexuality and condoms in the context of HIV/AIDS. Fr. Stephen Fernandez presented a paper on consent in testing, confidentiality, and social stigma. Dr. G.D.Ravindran, country director of CMMB and coordinator of programmes on HIV of the CBCI Health Commission, analysed the ABC strategy of prevention (abstinence, being faithful and condom use) basing on the recent scientific findings and ethical considerations. Fr. Thomas Kalam, Director of St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, dealt on the clinical and ethical issues in the care and support of people living with HIV and AIDS. Frs. Arokiasamy and John Chathanatt, Jesuit theologians from Vidyajyothi, Delhi, jointly presented the human right issues in HIV/AIDS. On the light of the paper presentations and the lively discussions, the participants of the colloquium discussed and revised the draft of the HIV/AIDS Policy of the Church in India.