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HEALTH: HIV-Positive Women Activists in Latin America Stand Tall

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, May 11 2007 (IPS) - Patricia Pérez, an activist from Argentina who was diagnosed HIV-positive in 1986, has been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism on behalf of women living with the AIDS virus. But her case is an exception to the rule.

Most Latin American women who contract HIV hide their status for fear of rejection, or experience veiled or open discrimination. And the number of HIV-positive women is rising sharply.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), three years ago there were seven or eight men with HIV/AIDS in Latin America for every woman with the virus. But today the ratio is three to one.

Pérez, the regional representative of the non-governmental International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America (ICW Latina), has raised her voice, like other activists, to warn about the increasing feminisation of the AIDS pandemic.

But above all these women advocate the right of women living with HIV/AIDS to speak out freely and without fear.

“I never thought that 20 years after being diagnosed with HIV, I would be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. But this is a recognition of the work of all of us,” said Pérez in Mexico, before a mainly female audience who applauded enthusiastically.

Pérez, who is on familiar terms with government authorities and United Nations officials, is taking part in a meeting of 25 leaders and HIV-positive women activists from several countries being held in Mexico from Tuesday to Friday.

The participants are discussing possible strategies for the 17th International AIDS Conference, which will be held in Mexico in August 2008.

The conference, convened by the International AIDS Society (IAS), is being sponsored by UNFPA, the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Joint U.N. Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Teresa Rodríguez, head of UNIFEM for Mexico, Central America, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, congratulated the women for their commitment to the struggle and for their willingness to take a leading role in the conference preparations.

Rodríguez had a special word of welcome for Pérez, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by several women’s organisations and by the Honduran government.

ICW Latina is part of a network of some 8,000 women in 57 countries. Regional coordinator Pérez stressed that next year’s AIDS conference in Mexico must address deeper issues beyond scientific and medical presentations on the HIV virus or the latest treatments.

The conference must also deal with the social and cultural conditions in which the global epidemic is occurring, as well as the situation of women living with the virus, she said.

“As women living with HIV, we know what we need, so we should be sitting down at the tables where governments are taking the decisions,” said Pérez.

Hilda Esquivel, leader of the HIV-positive women’s organisation Mexicanas Positivas Frente a la Vida, fully agrees. “Invisibility, silence and indifference will only end when women living with HIV raise our voices and make ourselves heard,” she said.

“We used to cover our faces, but not any more. We are telling others that we have rights, just like everybody else,” Esquivel said.

The activists said that the vast majority of HIV-positive women in Latin America suffer from stigma and discrimination. Many women are fired from their jobs and have to cope simultaneously with their family, procure medicines for their treatment and support their children.

Some 25,000 researchers, health workers, members of civil society, authorities and HIV-positive people are expected to attend the 17th International AIDS Conference next year.

The conference is held every two years. The last was hosted by Canada, in August 2006.

Rodríguez, of UNIFEM’s regional office, said the conference in Mexico will be an excellent opportunity for Latin America to join forces and resources to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, through preventive measures, education, and treatment of those affected by the disease.

According to UNAIDS, around two million people aged 15 to 49 are living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the Caribbean, 49 percent of patients are women. In the other Latin American countries, women make up 36 percent of the reported cases.