Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
10 July 2009
Geneva — The developing countries need continued aid, especially with health care, if the world is to recover from the current economic crisis, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, permanent representative of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, has said.
Archbishop Tomasi said this during a High-Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council on "Current global and national trends and their impact on social development, including public health."
He added that "aid for development should be maintained and even increased as a critical factor in renewing the economy and leading us out of the crisis" and pointed out that inequalities in public health must be eliminated, "between countries and within countries, and between racial and ethnic groups."
According to ZENIT, the archbishop pledged the Church's help in Africa, the dedication to "stand alongside the poorest people in this continent in order to uphold the inherent dignity of all persons."
The archbishop called for a solution to this problem, as an expression of solidarity as well as a "matter of justice."
He explained that justice demands overcoming the "temptation to reduce public services for a short-term benefit against the long-term human cost."
The prelate emphasized the situation of women, who in many regions "receive poorer quality health care" and underlined the Catholic Church's commitment to help in the "most isolated and marginalized areas and among people who rarely enjoy access to health care."
"In an increasingly interdependent world, even sickness and viruses have no boundaries, and therefore, greater global cooperation becomes not only a practical necessity, but more importantly, an ethical imperative of solidarity," the archbishop said.
He highlighted the need to find "more than financial solutions to the challenges posed by the economic crisis to global efforts aimed at assuring universal access to health care," adding that health care must be guided by the "best" tradition that respects the "right to life from conception until natural death for all regardless of race, disability, nationality, religion, sex and socio-economic status."
Moreover, he pointed out, if there are cutbacks in international aid due to the economic recession, or if there is an increased number of people seeking health care, the "already fragile public health systems in developing countries" will be unable to care for "their most vulnerable citizens."
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