December 21, 2006
After the Diagnosis, Discrimination
By Maria Antonieta Gómez Álvarez
SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS --When Rogelio Lopez, 43, tested positive for HIV in 1995, he faced not just a medical crisis, but also a personal one. "When my friends found out that I was sick, everyone ran away. I was left without friends, without a job," he said.
Since 1999, the Mexican government has provided free antiretroviral medication to AIDS patients that don't have health insurance. Last week Felipe Calderon's new government reaffirmed its commitment through 2007. But pharmaceuticals alone can't solve all of the problems Mexico's AIDS population faces.
After the initial blow of being diagnosed with a terminal illness, many HIV positive people face discrimination in the workplace, from family and friends, and even at the hands of doctors. This emotional stress can take a toll on their health, said Dr. Jose Luis Najera, of the Public Health Department of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas. "Emotional stability helps maintain a stable immune system," he said.
Lopez's doctor offered little hope when he told him he was HIV positive. "He said, 'Congratulations, friend. You won the lottery. You're going to die,'" said Lopez, who is now controlling his disease with government provided antiretrovirals.
Rogelio Lopez, 43, tested positive for HIV in 1995.
But Lopez, now a representative for the State Advisory Committee for AIDS Prevention (COESIDA by its Spanish initials), isn't alone. Many doctors in Mexico treat an AIDS diagnosis as a death sentence, according to a study called HIV Positive Mexican Women Speak, conducted by several citizen and government groups in 2004. "The fact that doctors equate the syndrome with death is inhumane, medically incorrect, and it discourages people who are living with the virus from looking for alternative ways to care for their health and improve the length and quality of their lives," the study reported.< /p>
Eleven years after Lopez's diagnosis, Oscar Torres, 41, still had negative experiences with doctors. Torres, a professor and lawyer who has traveled the world, tested HIV positive last spring. When his doctors broke the news, they told him that his case would be very interesting because he might have a strain of the virus that is uncommon in Mexico. They prescribed antiretroviral medication though Torres told them that he wanted to try alternative treatments. "I felt like a defenseless lab rat that had fallen into the hands of ignorant, cruel children," he said.
Oscar Torres, 41
Dr. Marcos Arana Cedeño, director of the Ecological and Health Training Center for Campesinos (CCESC by its Spanish initials), said that some health professionals lack the treatment and training to treat AIDS patients compassionately and effectively. He blames the situation on racism and homophobia, coupled with misinformation. "The less information [the doctors have], the less sensitive they are, and the more their prejudices operate," he said.
Even when AIDS patients feel well enough to work and study, they often face discrimination at school and in the workplace. Adan Sánchez, 29, and his wife, Arminda Rodríguez, 28, are both HIV positive and treating the disease with government provided antiretrovirals, they have a four-year-old daughter.
After recovering the initial health crisis that led to his diagnosis, Sánchez, a mechanic, began looking for work. But the job applications he filled out asked for health information, and he had to disclose his HIV status. Time after time, he wasn’t hired. "They see that you are labeled HIV positive and they don't give you work," he said.
Mexican labor laws prohibit discrimination based on health conditions, but Sánchez says that many don't understand the laws or the disease, "They discriminate against you because they don't understand how the virus is transmitted." In order to get a job, Sanchez began lying on his job applications.
His wife, Arminda, worries for their child. "I have a daughter and I'm scared that people will discriminate against her," she said. Their daughter is not HIV positive, however they fear she will be discriminated against because she has HIV positive parents. Her fears aren't unfounded. Administrators in Ocozocouatla, Chiapas, prevented an HIV positive girl enrolling in elementary school because they feared that she posed a health risk to other children. She finally entered first grade at the age of 10 in 2004, after human rights officials and the government forced the school to admit her.
Even in death, AIDS patients face discrimination, said Rosa Maria Alvarado, coordinator of the Integrated Collective for the Family (CIFAM, by its Spanish initials) that works to prevent AIDS among vulnerable populations in San Cristóbal. She told the story of Lorenza, a young indigenous woman from Totolapa who died of AIDS in 2004. Her family decided not to take responsibility for her remains, and said that they didn't want her body in their community at all because they worried that it could spread the disease. She was buried in a mass grave in the state capitol, Tuxtla Gutierrez along with countless others whose bodies were never claimed or identified. "Every one has a right to a dignified death and funeral service,"said Alvarado.
For Dr. Najera, the problems that AIDS patients face point to a cultural problem, "We haven't yet created a society that doesn't discriminate. We are a prejudiced society," he said.
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