Rome, Italy, Sep 6, 2010 / 05:57 am
The Minister for Community Development of Papua New Guinea, Carol Kidu, said during a U.N. forum in Melbourne, Australia this week that the religious sisters, priests and Catholic missionaries who work in the health care industry are the “unsung heroes” in the fight against AIDS.
According to Fides news agency, a large number of hospitals in Papua New Guinea are operated by the Catholic Church, and thanks to their efforts, the number of new cases of HIV is being controlled and may even decrease.
Fides reported that the “United Nations forum was presented by two religious sisters who serve as nurses and HIV counselors, and by a priest who works as a surgeon. All work in the most remote regions of the Highlands, where the spread of HIV is more concentrated and where tribal and domestic violence is at epidemic proportions.”