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.
