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 News from Around the Americas | November 2005 
Experts: AIDS Spreading in Central America
 Prensa Latina
| | A 13-year-old girl, who could not be named because she is HIV-positive, speaks during the Latin American and Caribbean AIDS forum Tuesday, Nov. 8 , 2005 in San Salvador, El Salvador. The girl was born with the HIV virus from her mother, and said she wanted to become a doctor when she grew up. (AP Photo/Luis Romero) |
San Salvador - The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is spreading throughout Central America, where a growing number of women are reported as HIV-positive every day, according to the United Nations Programs on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
The issue was discussed on the second day of the Central American Meeting of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS, which opened in this capital on Monday.
UNAIDS Director Peter Piot, who is attending the meeting, attributed an increase in the number of HIV-positive women to their role in society, migration and poverty.
More than 600 HIV-positive people are attending the forum to demand an end to discrimination and greater commitment to patients by the governments, civil society and institutions.
Colombian sexologist Manuel Velend said that AIDS patients lack appropriate treatments and retroviral drugs, in an open violation of their human rights.
Delegates noted that out of nearly 300 million dollars approved by the World Fund for drugs and treatments, only 100 million dollars have been used appropriately.
Parallel to the Central American Meeting of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS, the 3rd Latin American and Caribbean Forum on HIV/AIDS and a Summit of the Central American Integration System (SICA) will be held this week to create a common strategy against the disease.
Some 42 million people are infected with AIDS in the world, a fact that, according to UN experts, shows that the epidemic runs faster than the world´s response. |
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