(Vatican Radio) The Vatican on Friday called for more attention to the systemic obstacles that prevent people living with HIV and AIDS from enjoying fully their right to health care, treatment, and support.
The Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, represented by Chargé d’Affaires Msgr. Richard Gyhra, gave the statement at a meeting at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
“Among the challenges experienced by Member States is the predominant emphasis on profitability of medicines and diagnostic tools, resulting in prohibitive price structures,” Msgr. Gyhra said. “Furthermore, insufficient attention has been given to research and development of ‘child friendly’ medications and diagnostic tools for use by children living in low-income and low technology settings.”
The full text of Msgr. Gyhra’s intervention is below
Statement by Msgr. Richard Gyhra, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva
at the 31st Session of the Human Rights
Panel discussion on the progress in and challenges of addressing human rights issues in the context of efforts to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030
Geneva, 11 March 2016
Mr. President,
My Delegation wishes to thank you and the Members of this Council for convening the current Panel Discussion to address the human rights issues related the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For more than thirty years, it has caused death and untold suffering for millions of children and adults in the prime of their lives, left millions more children orphaned, and brought significant numbers of families and local communities to the point of economic, emotional, and social collapse.
As we consider the human rights implications of the HIV pandemic, my Delegation repeats its call for more attention to the systemic obstacles that prevent people living with HIV and AIDS from enjoying fully their right to health care, treatment, and support. As the members of this Council already are well aware, the right to health is recognized as a fundamental right by Article 25 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR).
The Declaration foresees the right to health and medical care within the more general rubric of the right “to enjoy an adequate standard of living.”1 However, Article 12.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), directly recognizes the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.2 Among the minimum requirements for States to ensure these conditions, the Committee on Economic and Cultural Rights, in its General Comment No. 14,3 moreover, identified: the right of access to health care in a non-discriminatory way; the supply of essential drugs; an equitable distribution of benefits and health services; and adoption of national strategies to prevent and combat epidemics.
Notwithstanding this legal framework and all the positive initiatives implemented over the last decade for ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic, there is still much to be done to reach our goal. Among the challenges experienced by Member States is the predominant emphasis on profitability of medicines and diagnostic tools, resulting in prohibitive price structures. Another obstacle is the categorization of low, middle and high-income countries based exclusively on Gross National Income, which, consequently, does not take into account the overall health care burden and other economic and social determinants of health. Furthermore, insufficient attention has been given to research and development of “child friendly” medications and diagnostic tools for use by children living in low-income and low technology settings. On the positive side, the success that the WTO TRIPs Council had last November, in pushing for a waiver extension, thus ensuring maximum flexibility in the patenting of pharmaceutical products until at least 2033 for LDCs represents a solid foundation on which we can continue to build.
Mr. President, I would like to conclude by citing Pope Francis: “Interdependence and the integration of economies should not bear the least detriment to existing systems of health care and social security; instead, they should promote their creation and good functioning. Certain health issues… require urgent political attention, above and beyond all other commercial or political interests.”4
Thank you, Mr. President.
1 http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf
2 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm
3 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Twenty-second session, Geneva, 25 April-12 May 2000, E/C.12/2000/4, 11 August 2000, http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(symbol)/E.C.12.2000.4.En
4 Address of Pope Francis at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, 26 November 2015.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See on Thursday said “crimes against women and girls…cannot anymore go unheard, unseen, overlooked or treated as an inevitable consequence in the horrible reality of armed conflict.”
Monsignor Janusz Urbańczyk, the Holy See’s Permanent Presentative to the OSCE, was speaking on Thursday about the commemoration on Tuesday of International Women’s Day.
“The Holy See is highly concerned about women who are discriminated against or undervalued solely on the ground of their gender and will continue to work with other stakeholders in promoting a culture that recognizes the equivalent dignity that belongs to women and men, in law and in concrete reality,” the Vatican diplomat said.
“The Holy See welcomes the progress already made in favour of women’s advancement but regrets, however, that, at a time when sensitivity to women’s issues appears stronger than ever, the world is still confronted with old and new forms of violence and slavery directed at women,” said Msgr. Urbańczyk.
“These include the use of rape as a weapon of war during conflicts; the trafficking of girls (who are treated as merchandise); the abuse of domestic workers (that remains, at times, unpunished); kidnapping of young women, forced marriage, forced conversion and forced abortion” – he continued – “All these types of violence occur more frequently where poverty and social instability are prevalent or even where some legal systems and traditions continue to condone them and they cause serious and long-lasting physical, psychological and social effects.”
The full statement is below
STATEMENT
BY MONSIGNOR JANUSZ URBAŃCZYK
PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE HOLY SEE,
AT THE 1092 MEETING OF THE OSCE PERMANENT COUNCIL
10 March 2015
RE: Dr. Ralf Kleindiek, State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Germany for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth speech on the occasion of this year´s International Women’s Day (8 March)
Mr. Chairman,
The Delegation of the Holy See joins the previous speakers in welcoming to the Permanent Council Dr. Ralf Kleindiek, State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Germany for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and expresses its gratitude for his insightful presentation.
My Delegation listened with great interest to the reflections on the ongoing situation of women in armed conflict and the continued abuse they suffer as victims of inequality, trafficking and exploitation. We are grateful for this opportunity to reflect and to be able to take an active part in considering, with other participating States, the important issues regarding the multiple forms of violation of women’s dignity as well as the violation of human rights in their regard.
The Holy See, for its part, has been seeking to work together with all those of good will in giving priority to social policies aimed at the elimination of the causes of such violence. In particular, the Holy See is highly concerned about women who are discriminated against or undervalued solely on the ground of their gender and will continue to work with other stakeholders in promoting a culture that recognizes the equivalent dignity that belongs to women and men, in law and in concrete reality.
The Holy See welcomes the progress already made in favour of women’s advancement but regrets, however, that, at a time when sensitivity to women’s issues appears stronger than ever, the world is still confronted with old and new forms of violence and slavery directed at women. These include the use of rape as a weapon of war during conflicts; the trafficking of girls (who are treated as merchandise); the abuse of domestic workers (that remains, at times, unpunished); kidnapping of young women, forced marriage, forced conversion and forced abortion. All these types of violence occur more frequently where poverty and social instability are prevalent or even where some legal systems and traditions continue to condone them and they cause serious and long-lasting physical, psychological and social effects.
The Holy See encourages the participating States to pay more attention and to welcome women in all sorts of preventive diplomacy, mediation efforts, as well as in post-conflict situations and peace building. In effect, the role of women in peace and security should not be considered as an afterthought or simply as something politically correct; but it is an essential contribution to all our efforts to spare our world from further scourges of war and violence.
The authentic advancement of women entails respect for their inherent dignity, while acknowledging women’s critical roles not only in society, but also in the family, as equal participants in marriage as spouses. This Delegation is convinced that the best way to promote so-called “gender equality” – that is equality between women and men – and to increase women’s participation, is to fight prejudices and stereotypes against women, affirming the ontological equality in dignity and rights between men and women in all juridical, cultural and social areas.
In accordance with this, the Holy See wishes to see future official documents of the OSCE oriented towards the achievement of a true and authentic equality between women and men enshrined in the commitments agreed upon by the OSCE participating States, while eschewing any other aims that could distract the OSCE and its participating States from achieving such equality and forestall effective and timely measures to address the original commitments.
Finally, we would like to stress that there is no doubt that much still has to be done to meet the enormous needs in a satisfactory manner, to address the issue of equal rights for women and men, and to effectively enable women to actively participate in all sectors of society. Thus we must do more and act more rapidly, because crimes against women and girls – our mothers, sisters, and daughters – cannot anymore go unheard, unseen, overlooked or treated as an inevitable consequence in the horrible reality of armed conflict.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is urging Christians to support families in need so that children are raised in “healthy and peaceful environments.”
In a short video message in Spanish issued Thursday, the Pope offers a prayer intention for the month of March. He reflects on the theme: “the family is one of the most precious assets of humanity. But, is it not perhaps the most vulnerable?”
“When a family is exposed to economic, health, or other difficulties, the children grow up in an environment of sadness.”
Meditating on this issue, Pope Francis says, “I want to share with you and with Jesus my prayer intention for the month: That families in need may receive the necessary support and that children may grow up in healthy and peaceful environments.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
Click to download Bulletin of March 20, 2016
(Vatican Radio) All true Christians should embody the compassion of the Good Samaritan, offering caring witness towards those who suffer: t his is the message at the heart of Fr. Ermes Ronchi’s Lenten meditation for Pope Francis and the Roman Curia on the fifth day of their spiritual exercises in Ariccia, in the hills outside Rome. His reflection draws on the tears shed by Mary Magdalen after finding Jesus’ tomb empty. She is stopped by a voice which asks “whom are you seeking and why are you crying?” The 3 verbs that lead to compassion The risen Jesus, Fr. Ronchi explains, “is the Lord of life” and he cares about Mary Magdalen’s tears. In his last hours on the Cross on Good Friday, Jesus was concerned for the pain and anguish suffered by a thief, Fr. Ronchi observes. And in the early hours of Easter, he was concerned about Mary’s pain and her love. “Jesus is the man of encounter,” the priest says: “he never looks for a person’s sins, but always focusses on their suffering and need.” We too, can learn from Jesus’s concern and from the compassion of the Good Samaritan, Fr. Ronchi asserts. They “saw, stopped and touched” – three verbs which lead to compassion and to action to ameliorate suffering. Compassion: a physical “kick in the gut” There are many scenes in the Gospel in which Jesus feels compassion after witnessing human suffering. This word, says Father Ronchi, in the Greek text alludes to “a cramp in the belly.” True compassion, therefore, is not an abstract or noble thought but a physical kick in the gut. It is this visceral reaction, he stresses, that causes the good Samaritan not to “pass by” the suffering man as do the priest and the Levite. “The real difference is not between Christians, Muslims or Jews – the real difference is not between those who believe and those who say they do not believe,” Fr. Ronchi notes. “The real difference is between those who stop and those who do not stop to help the injured…If I spend an hour simply shouldering a person’s pain, I get to know him better; I am wiser than the most well-read of people. I am full of the knowledge of life.” Mercy is never shown from a “distance” Fr. Ronchi ponders the third verb, “to touch:” “Whenever Jesus is moved, he touches,” recalls the preacher of the exercises. “He touches the untouchable:” a leper – among the most despised of human waste. He touches the son of the widow of Nain and “violates the law, does what one cannot do: he takes the dead boy, raises him up again and gives him back to his mother”: When we look upon those who need our mercy, says Fr. Ronchi – the refugees, migrants, the poor – we should be impelled to stop, to touch. “If I see, I stop and I touch. If I wipe away a tear, I know I am not changing the world; I cannot change the structures of iniquity, but I have injected into it the idea that hunger is not invincible.” “Mercy,” he concludes, “is all that is essential to human life…And God forgives thus: not with a document but with His hands, a touch, a caress.” (from Vatican Radio)…