WORLD AIDS DAY: Salesian Missions highlights programs that support youth with HIV/AIDS
World AIDS Day celebrated each year on Dec. 1
(MissionNewswire) Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins humanitarian organizations and countries around the globe in honoring World AIDS Day celebrated each year on Dec. 1. The day is held to honor AIDS victims and focuses on prevention and treatment issues surrounding HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).
World AIDS Day originated at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programs for AIDS Prevention. Every year since then, United Nations agencies, governments and civil society join together to campaign around specific themes related to AIDS.
U.N AIDS has noted that 1.3 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2023 and there are nearly 40 million people living with HIV across the globe. The agency has noted the world is off track to meet the 2025 targets for new infections and AIDS-related deaths. U.N. AIDS has indicated, “The urgency of now is that significant gaps remain in access to HIV prevention and treatment services that need to be filled. Further, unfair laws, discrimination and violence must be stopped to ensure access to treatment and prevention for all.”
Salesian missionaries offer more than 150 medical clinics and hospitals around the globe that handle a wide range of medical care needs and are mostly in rural areas. HIV/AIDS prevention and testing programs are vital components of Salesian health care initiatives in Africa.
Don Bosco Care Home, located in the village of Nilavarapatti in the district of Salem, Tamil Nadu, India, has been working for almost a decade to bring awareness about HIV/AIDS and improve medical treatment for children who have been infected. Salesians provide medical care, promote positive thinking and work to break the social stigma. For the youth in their care, Salesians with Don Bosco Care Home provide food, nutrition, medical care, education, recreation and counseling. The home was also given approval from the government to start a special school on the campus.
At Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations located in Freetown, Salesians offer the Girls Shelter GO+ program to support young girls who have been forced into sex work. Some of the girls are as young as 9 years old. Most of them have faced violence and sexual abuse. They include girls from other countries, villages or the poorest areas of Freetown, who often are forced to provide financially for themselves and their families. Many of the girls have been infected with sexually transmitted diseases, as well as HIV, and are in need of medical care.
“The work of Salesian missionaries around the globe goes beyond education to ensure the well-being of our students,” said Father Michael Conway, director of Salesian Missions. “Salesians offer medical centers and rural outreach programs to ensure the health of all those we serve. Some of those programs are particularly focused on the treatment of HIV/AIDS to ensure that those who are living in poverty still have access to the medical care they need even when they cannot afford to pay for it.”
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