VATICAN CITY, NOV 21, 2006 (VIS) - At 11.30 a.m. in the Holy See Press Office, the presentation took place of the annual international conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care. The conference, which is due to be held from November 23 to 25 in the Vatican's New Synod Hall, has as its theme this year: "Pastoral aspects of the treatment of infectious diseases."
Participating in today's press conference were Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, Bishop Jose L. Redrado O.H., and Fr. Felice Ruffini M.I., respectively president, secretary and under secretary of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care; and Nicola Petrosillo, director of the 2nd division of the Rome-based "L. Spallanzani" National Institute for Infectious Diseases.
The spread of epidemics and of new viral infections, said Cardinal Lozano, "constitutes a serious threat to public health all over the world."
Referring to the organization of the forthcoming conference, the cardinal indicated that it will be divided into three parts. During the first part, the participants, world specialists in their field, will consider the origins and causes of infectious diseases at an individual level (lifestyle, alimentation and immune system deficiency); a technological level (industrial progress, and the mutation and resistance of bacteria); a political level (suppression of public health measures, war and terrorism); and an ecological level (climate change, environmental damage, water and air contamination).
In the second phase of the conference, said the president of the pontifical council, "we will reflect from a moral and ethical standpoint upon illnesses and Christian hope, and upon Christians' responsibilities in curing the sick." Consideration will also be given to the points of view of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and of contemporary post-modernity.
The third part of the conference, Cardinal Lozano continued, will be dedicated to discussing the pastoral care of people with infectious diseases through such means as education in the faith, catechesis and the communications media. Attention will also be given - from a biomedical viewpoint - to research and prevention and - as regards the socio-political aspects of the problem - to national and international healthcare policies, to migration, to economic, scientific and technological resources, to nutrition and to public sanitation projects.
The conference will end with reflections upon the sick, their families and healthcare professionals, and upon the work of parishes, dioceses, religious orders and congregations, associations and volunteers working in the field of healthcare.
.../INFECTIOUS DISEASES/CON-AVA VIS 20061121 (410)
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