Nobody said it was easy, but nothing is impossible for Latin America
On Wednesday July 21, 2010, the Regional Session on Latin America was held at the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) in Vienna, Austria. The session discussed the region’s programmes on the HIV epidemic and it also examined the governments’ responses. The session also addressed the UN goals on universal access to sustainable programmes, treatment, care and support for this year.
It was a very high-level panel. The co-moderators were Mr. Ruben E. Pacheco from Panama and Ms. Micaela Pacheco Cyrine Carolina, a young Brazilian woman living with HIV. The panel was composed of Mr. P. Cahn from Argentina, Mr. M. Bronfman and Ms. G. Careaga both from Mexico, and Ms. L. Abracinskas from Uruguay.
Mr. Cahn discussed social vulnerability, human rights and AIDS. He stressed that despite the existence of external support for countries receiving support from the Global Fund, in Latin America the difference between the prices of treatment varies greatly. For example, in Belize treatment costs USD$ 240, whereas in Guatemala it costs over USD$ 2,100.
Ms. Lilian Abracinskas of Uruguay focused on the cost of not including people living with HIV into comprehensible policies on sexual and reproductive rights. She emphasised that Latin America is the region that has signed the most Human Rights conventions. As such, civil society should use these tools to put pressure on states to comply with the promises they made by signing those conventions.
Ms. Abracinskas raised an issue common to Latin American reality: teenage pregnancy. The absence of sexual education for girls has been a factor in increasing the number of pregnancies in this age group. Another problem is that this group is often made up of vulnerable and marginalised women. She added that in Latin American countries 50% of pregnant women have not been tested despite access to health services. According to the UNFPA, in the year 2007 there were 55,000 children under the age of 15 living with HIV, out of which 6,000 died. "These are debts that are impossible to repay," said Ms. Abracinskas.
All of the panelists agreed on the obstacles and challenges needed to overcome the epidemic. They agreed that the major obstacles in the region were widespread poverty, the economic dependence of women, stigma and discrimination, ignorance, weak governance, lack of political commitment, the weakening of human capital, and the misallocation of funds, among others.
The challenges needed to overcome the epidemic are, among others: increased and improved information systems on statistics from the region in order to be better equipped to seek funds and develop projects, reduce poverty, improve human rights laws relating to HIV, improve the rights of migrants and sex workers and overcome the gender division of labour. Governments need to be able to differentiate between “investment” and “expenditure” with regards to this epidemic. Policies with a gender perspective need to be developed; action needs to be taken at the local level in order to reach the national level; broader links between democratic and social movements must be forged.
“We, people, are complex beings who do not have access to simple solutions,” said Ms. Abracinskas. She ended with an inspirational phrase on the struggle to overcome this epidemic: "Nobody said it was easy, but nothing is impossible."
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