“Poverty remains the main source of childhood diseases. One billion 200 million people live on less than one dollar a day. Even in the wealthier countries, one child out of six lives under the threshold of poverty”: this was mentioned by card. Javier Lozano Barragan, as he presented the international conference on the "pastoral care of sick children” (Vatican, 13-15 November). “The problem of drugs has spiralled out of control. 30% of children under 5 years of age starve or are malnourished, while 50% of all of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa have no access to drinkable water”. In addition, Barragan reported that "250 million children under 15 years of age work, about 60 million of them in dangerous conditions”, and he also highlighted that in the most developed countries "many children and teenagers are left to their own devices and to their own instincts in front of the TV and the Internet, which they surf with no moral guidance whatsoever. Sexual trade, paedophilia, bullying, crimes, organised bands are ever-increasing phenomena”. According to the president of the Papal Council for the Health-Care Pastoral, "many families have given up on their educational duties, so the Church is wondering how to contribute to help the many children that eventually find themselves in a state of sickness, malaise or social exclusion”.
