HEALTH ROOTED IN AN ANTHROPOLOGY RESPECTFUL OF HUMANITY

VATICAN CITY, MAY 21, 2007 (VIS) - Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi C.S., Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations at Geneva, has delivered a speech on the subject of "the Holy See and modern challenges in health promotion," during the course of the 60th World Health Assembly, being held in Geneva from May 14 to 23.

  Opening his English-language talk, the archbishop congratulated Margaret Chan, the new director of the World Health Organization (WHO). "We welcome," he said, "her designation of the health of women and of the people of Africa as major concerns during her tenure in office. The Catholic Church has traditionally been in the front line in the promotion of the authentic health of women, by helping them to harmonize their physical, psychological and social well-being with moral and spiritual values. In this line, the Catholic Church is also convinced of the God-given, equal, and complementary dignity of women and men."

  "Regarding Africa, the Popes have repeatedly expressed deep concern over its anguished history 'where many nations are still in the grip of famine, war, racial and tribal tensions, political instability and the violation of human rights,' and Pope Benedict XVI has exhorted the international community, 'we must not forget Africa'."

  The permanent observer called attention to "resolutions and recommendations with regard to the pandemics of tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV," and recalled how last November "the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care convened more than 500 experts to reflect on 'Pastoral aspects of the treatment of infectious diseases.' In addressing those gathered, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the need to implement social justice in the sensitive area of treatment and nursing and therefore to ensure a fair distribution of resources for research and treatment. In this same perspective, as the chancellor of Germany prepared to assume the presidency of both the G8 countries and the European Union, the Holy Father, in a letter to her," emphasized the "need to make available medical and pharmaceutical technology and health care expertise without imposing legal or economic conditions."

  The archbishop dwelt upon the Holy See's concern "for the tragic loss of life each year among some 10.5 million children under five years of age; many of these children die of diseases that are treatable in adults but for which appropriate dosages and formulations have not yet been developed for pediatric use." He also noted, "with much regret, that only 15 percent of HIV-positive children in need of anti-retroviral treatment actually have access to these life-saving therapies."

  "In all the deliberations during this Assembly and in the subsequent implementation of World Health Assembly resolutions," Archbishop Tomasi concluded, "my delegation urges a perspective on health security that is grounded on an anthropology respectful of the human person in his or her integrity and looks far beyond the absence of disease to the full harmony and sound balance of the physical, emotional, spiritual and social forces within the human person."
DELSS/HEALTH/GENEVA:TOMASI                VIS 20070521 (500)