Challenging stigma and discrimination

Hernán Quezada of VIHas de Vida [CAFOD]

Hernán Quezada, a Jesuit priest in Guadalajara, Mexico, works for CAFOD partner VIHAS de Vida, fighting discrimination against people living with HIV and campaigning for drugs to be widely available

Hernán Quezada is programme advisor to CAFOD partner VIHAS de Vida (Paths of Life) and is concerned that although there is not a pandemic in Latin America, there is a lot of work to be done to prevent the situation getting worse.

The group, set up by the Jesuits, promotes human rights, education and support for people living with HIV and AIDS. It challenges discrimination wherever it rears its head.

For example, VIHas de VIDA is currently providing legal aid in a pioneering case on behalf of an airforce engineer who was dismissed for being HIV-positive.

"The armed forces test people for the virus without their consent - and if they are found HIV-positive they are immediately dismissed," Hernán explains.

Making medicines available

The group also campaigns for life-saving anti-retroviral drugs to be made available to all who need them. Anti-retroviral drugs enable people infected with HIV to stay healthy.

Until 2003, the Mexican government did not provide these drugs to people living with HIV. Following campaigning by VIHas de Vida – including a national human rights congress which the President attended - the government agreed to fund a national programme to make the drugs available.

In theory, the drugs are now available to everyone. However, many people still don’t benefit, because of the conditions attached.

Hernán explains: "The problem now is that people must be tested every four months to receive medicine. This includes an immune deficiency test, which is very expensive - about $250 per person. This makes it impossible for people to afford, especially if several family members have the virus.

"We are lobbying the government to recognise this problem and pay for people on low-incomes to take the tests."

Migrants are vulnerable

Migration is becoming increasingly recognised as an important factor in the spread of HIV. "Migrants face poverty, discrimination and exploitation as well as alienation and loss of identity," explains Hernán.

"They also have limited access to educational, health and social services. And they are separated from their families and the social and cultural customs that exist in stable communities.

"All these factors increase the risk of HIV infection for the migrants and their families."

Around 90 per cent of Mexican migrants in the United States do not have access to the health system. In California alone, people of Mexican origin account for 68 per cent of all HIV/ AIDS cases.

A medical doctor as well as a priest, Hernán works in public hospitals in Guadalajara city and visits the ‘Meson de la Misericordia’ – a small hospice and day centre for some of the poorest people living with the disease.

His day-to-day work includes giving psychological and spiritual support to people living with HIV and AIDS and their families, and with people working alongside them.

Hernán values this direct contact with people living with the virus: "It keeps my feet firmly on the ground!" he says.

Church to take a lead

Hernán believes that the Church must take a lead in changing attitudes, and building greater solidarity towards people living with HIV.

"In Africa the Church is responsible for 70 per cent of work related to HIV/AIDS, while the Church in Latin America is only just starting to get seriously involved in these issues," he says.

"Being poor is bad. Being ill and poor is worse. But when your illness is caused by AIDS it’s worse still, because you are marginalised. You can’t talk about your situation openly at mass. You have to hide your experiences."

"We must work to integrate people excluded from society, not to isolate them behind protective barriers. We need to change society’s attitude and challenge the prevailing stigma and discrimination.

"One of the highlights of our work is that we’re breaking the image of the helper and the helped. Many people learn to live well with the virus."

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