This book examines some of the ways in which HIV/AIDS is affecting South African society. Catholic theological responses have focused extensively on the implications of HIV/AIDS for the area of sexual ethics. Although there are important questions to be answered here, many more fundamental issues have been overlooked as a result. This book responds to the need within Catholic theology for a greater examination of the injustices associated with the AIDS pandemic. The author argues that the human rights challenges associated with poverty, gender discrimination, sexual violence and access to essential AIDS-related health care are a crucial feature of the crisis. The author turns to the social teaching of the Catholic Church for a fuller framework of analysis in this regard and provides a critical examination of that teaching’s core concepts and principles. The work of leading international economists Amartya Sen and Muhammad Yunus is explored as a means of relating the principles of Catholic social teaching to the concrete social and economic realities that exacerbate this global pandemic.

Suzanne Mulligan lectures in the Department of Moral Theology at the Milltown Institute, Dublin. Between 2006 and 2008 she held the Finlay Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Theology, awarded by the Irish Province of the Jesuits. She is a graduate of the Pontifical University, Maynooth, Ireland.

Contents: Exploring the relationship between poverty, inequality and the spread of AIDS – Women, Gender and HIV – Rape and Sexual Violence in South Africa – The Problem of Accessing Antiretroviral Medication in South Africa – Ethical Implications of AIDS Vaccine Trials in South Africa – New Ways of Approaching the Challenge of Development and Poverty Reduction – An examination of the work of Amartya Sen and Muhammad Yunus – Catholic Social Teaching as a response to the AIDS Pandemic. Inhaltsverzeichnis