Pope criticises disease efforts

The Pope has criticised "anti-life" policies of some economic aid agencies which claims to tackle HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria in some countries.

Speaking in an address entitled Fighting Poverty To Build Peace, the Pontiff said the three diseases were linked to poverty, the Kaiser Network quoted from an AFP report.

He said efforts to control these diseases did not always achieve "significant" results.

Benedict criticised global efforts: "It happens that countries afflicted by some of these pandemics find themselves held hostage, when they try to address them, by those who make economic aid conditional upon the implementation of anti-life policies."

Calling for moral issues to be addressed to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids, he also urged for more education and increased treatment for HIV/Aids, TB and malaria for people on low incomes.

According to the World Health Organization, there were 33 million people with HIV/Aids in 2007.

More than one million people die of malaria every year and one-third of the world is infected with TB bacillus.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world.