HEALTH-EL SALVADOR:
Free AIDS Testing, But
Then What?
By
Raúl Gutiérrez
SAN SALVADOR, Jul 3 (IPS)
- While health
authorities in El
Salvador have launched a
campaign under the
slogan "Take the test:
positive or negative, we
are all human beings in
the face of AIDS",
people living with HIV
complain of a lack of
medicines and of
discrimination, even at
the hands of public
health doctors.
The Salvadoran Public
Health Ministry and
Social Security
Institute report that
they tested at least
40,000 people for AIDS
in the country’s public
hospitals and health
centres, and in parks
and shopping centres, on
Jun. 27, which was
declared National Day
for HIV testing.
But experts who spoke to
IPS said the government
campaign, which got
underway in late June,
is merely aimed at
improving the country’s
international image and
drawing positive media
attention, while the
number of cases
continues to rise.
On Jun. 27, people
waited in long lines to
take free HIV/AIDS tests
in the Plaza Cívica, a
busy square in the
capital, as police stood
by to keep order. María
Rodríguez, 52, stood
under the hot noon sun
to have the exam done.
"This is good, because
sometimes you want to
take the test but can’t
afford to," said
Rodríguez.
Dr. Jeannette Alvarado,
local health
representative for the
international Social
Watch network, told IPS
that the Public Health
Ministry used the
National Day as a
publicity stunt.
"They want to show that
they are living up to
the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs),
that living conditions
are improving in this
country, that the health
policies are working,"
said Alvarado, who works
with the Fundación
Maquilishuat (FUMA), a
non-governmental
organisation dedicated
to providing health
assistance.
In September 2000, the
189 United Nations
member countries adopted
the eight MDGs, one of
which is to fight
HIV/AIDS, malaria and
other diseases.
Thirty-year-old Silvia
(not her real name) and
her two children, ages
10 and seven, are living
with HIV and face
constant discrimination,
even from the doctors
who have attended them.
"The care they give us
is quite bad. They don’t
give us the thorough
check-ups that we need.
It’s as if the doctors
were afraid to touch us.
I switched doctors
because I had that
problem," said Silvia,
who tested positive for
HIV 11 years ago and who
asked not to be
identified for fear of
even greater
discrimination.
In addition, there is a
shortage of
anti-retroviral
medicines in health
centres, and of the
equipment used to track
the progress of HIV
infections, she said.
She has even heard the
following said: "Why
give them medicine if
they are going to die
anyway."
Between 1984, when the
first case of AIDS was
diagnosed in El
Salvador, to February
2007, 18,282 cases have
been reported, said the
local coordinator of the
Global Fund Against
AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria, Elina Miranda.
According to the Public
Health Ministry, 318
people have died so far
of AIDS in this Central
American country.
Miranda told IPS that
heterosexual relations
are the main cause of
infection, accounting
for 79 percent of cases,
while more and more
women are being
infected. In 1991 the
ratio was 3.2 men with
HIV for every 1.7 women,
compared to 1.7:1 in
2006.
But in El Salvador, the
underregistration rate
is 60 percent, due to
the lack of a
well-established
epidemiological system,
said Miranda.
The 2006 report by the
Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV and
AIDS (UNAIDS) stated
that although the data
were incomplete, the
available statistics on
HIV indicate that the
epidemic in Central
America is growing, with
some of the highest
rates in Latin America.
Public Health Ministry
figures show that in
Honduras, there were
20,283 cases registered
as of 2004, and 10,306
in Guatemala as of 2006.
Between 39 and 47
million people are
living with HIV
worldwide, and 1.7
million in Latin
America, according to
U.N. figures.
Alvarado said the
irregular handling of
anti-AIDS funds has led
to problems both in
terms of reliable
monitoring of the number
of cases and access to
international funding
for anti-retroviral
drugs.
"These indicators
(presented by the
government) are aimed at
creating an image that
is not real, which means
the necessary
precautions are not
being taken," said
Alvarado.
In the view of Mario
Orellana, representative
of the non-governmental
organisation Prevensida,
which is participating
in the "Take the test"
campaign, the government
effort suffers from
several shortcomings.
"More monitoring is
needed, as well as
greater
awareness-raising
efforts and systematic
consciousness-raising
campaigns," said
Orellana. |
