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 News from Around the Americas | January 2006 
HIV Rate of Mexican Migrant Workers on the Rise
 Courtney Burks - California Aggie
New efforts to test and treat Mexican migrant workers for HIV are in development throughout California, along with education methods and materials, as part of a new study showing rising rates of the virus among the population.
On Jan. 2, National Public Radio reported on a study that was released to the public in June 2005, with research data showing that the rates of Mexican migrant workers who have obtained HIV during their time working in the United States have increased since 2001.
The University of California AIDS Research Program, along with the Mexican Secretariat of Health, performed studies of migrant workers both currently living in Mexico and the U.S. In the last survey, little or no rate among migrants was reported, but in the updated version, 1.1 percent of migrants living in Mexico tested positive for HIV while 0.06 percent of those living in California were positive.
Rosana Scolari, project director of the Southern California Border AIDS/HIV Project, in partnership with the San Ysidro Health Center and UC San Diego, works to improve AIDS/HIV outreach to the underserved Latino community. Scolari said she thinks the reasoning for the increase in HIV rates among migrant workers in the past few years is mostly due to the lack of services provided to the migrants, especially in Mexico.
"A 10-minute drive down south takes you back 10 years, in terms of HIV and AIDS," Scolari said. "On one side we have prevention services, information, free tests for HIV, medical care and medications. On the other side, you can't even get a free HIV test."
Since the University of California and the Mexican government have teamed up to research the causes of this rapid increase, they have become concerned with data that show many of the migrant workers to practice "risky behavior," and the fact that they don't often take precautions for having safe sex.
Dr. George Lemp, director of the UC-wide program, said it is important to worry about these rising statistics because it could have a long-term effect that is much more disastrous.
"[We] worry that if HIV begins to take hold and move rapidly to a new epidemic level, that it could result in a significant increase in the epidemic, particularly in Mexico and on migrants in this country," Lemp said.
Jaime Ordonez is the health program coordinator for the Yolo County HIV/AIDS program. Ordonez said precautions are being taken in Yolo County to help spread awareness and stop infection rates from increasing among migrant workers, but this is challenging. The program only operates in the spring and summer, he noted.
"We offer free testing, counseling, prevention and education services," Ordonez said. "A lot of the migrant workers don't have much information about HIV, so they don't see the need to get tested; that means we have to do a little bit more aggressive outreach."
Ordonez noted he feels their program is moving at a successful pace. Unlike the total migrant population in California, in the two years the Yolo County program has been running, it has not yet come across a migrant worker testing positive for HIV.
Courtney Burks can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com. |
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