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HIV and AIDS

HIV is one of the largest and most complex threats to human health the world has ever known. Great stigma compounds already tragic physical consequences. And in the developing world, poverty itself is both a cause and an effect of a pandemic that is devastating the physical, social, and economic health of entire regions.

People around the world continue to suffer and die from this disease, which often robs them of family, social networks, and ways to make a living. Young women bear the greatest risk of infection and the burden of caring for the ill. But many people have found ways to live with dignity despite their HIV status, and CRS works to replicate that success.

A woman waiting in line at the Kijabe Hospital in Kenya reads literature on HIV prevention. (Photo by David Snyder.)

In 25 years, HIV has infected more than 65 million people. The majority of those suffering live in Africa, but the pandemic is quickly spreading in many countries throughout Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia. By 2010, it is estimated that 80 million people will be infected and 25 million children will have been orphaned. HIV and AIDS disproportionately affect the poor and vulnerable, and limited resources often prevent poor communities from supporting the millions who suffer.

Offering Compassion

Moved by compassion, Catholic Relief Services initiated our first HIV and AIDS project in 1986 in Bangkok, Thailand. We now have HIV programming in 52 countries across Africa and the hardest-hit regions of Asia and Latin America. We operate more than 250 HIV and AIDS projects in the poorest and most vulnerable areas of the developing world, with an expenditure of over $120 million in 2007 alone. This year, CRS will directly help more than 4 million people affected by the pandemic.

CRS programming in HIV and AIDS has evolved to help individuals, families, and communities as they struggle through the physical, economic, social, and emotional devastation of the disease. By working with local partners — including Catholic, governmental, and other faith-based and private organizations — we empower people and communities to stem the tide of the pandemic.

Overview of CRS work in HIV/AIDS (html)
Overview of CRS work in HIV/AIDS (Flash)

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Featured

    HIV and AIDS programming

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