InterPress News Service (IPS) - Wednesday, September 9, 1998
Abraham Lama

"We organized ourselves so as to learn to live with AIDS, to survive and deal with the nightmare that befalls us when we find out that we have, or may have, this terrible disease," Martha explains. "We also organized ourselves to fight the unjust discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS."

HIV (Human Immuno-deficiency Virus) is the micro-organism that causes AIDS. The National Front of Women Living With HIV/AIDS was created as a result of a conversation between four women awaiting their turn at a medical clinic. Other women joined later, sent by social workers at some hospitals.

Martha, whose husband died about a year ago, says she has not developed full-blown AIDS, but she goes for constant check-ups. "I know I'll get the disease at some point, but that does not scare me," she says.

"The idea of having AIDS terrifies and paralyses people, but being HIV-positive doesn't mean you're going to die right away," she adds. "Medical science is progressing very fast. What's important is to survive and have the best quality of life possible without becoming demoralized and demoralizing our families. "I am prepared, and through our association, I help other women to prepare themselves."

The 73-member National Front of Women Living With HIV/AIDS, is among a number of mutual assistance groups which Peru's Health Ministry is promoting. However, what sets the Front apart from the other groups is that its members do not confine themselves to providing mutual support. They receive technical training so that they can start small businesses.

"Work helps as a support for emotional healing, and even more so when it is done within a group of caring individuals who have common problems," explains psychologist Elba Nunez.

Says Martha: "I am an expert in textiles, with many years of experience, so I decided to help women who are having economic and family problems - women who have lost their husbands to AIDS - in a concrete way.

"In addition to being paralysed by panic, many of these women suddenly found themselves unemployed after being fired from their jobs once it became known that they were HIV positive."

Many of the women who belong to the Front came from a network of mutual-support groups for people with AIDS that was created by Luis Jara, an engineer who, on finding out that he was HIV- positive, quit his job so as to concentrate on the creation of mutual assistance groups for people with the virus.

Jara's network, which also fights against the discrimination AIDS patients suffer, receives support from the U.N. Aids Programme (UNAIDS), Peru's Health Ministry and Via Libre, a non- governmental organization.

The first case of AIDS in Peru was registered in 1983, and although the prevalence of HIV/AIDS there is lower than in many other countries, the number of infected people is growing rapidly. Up to 1996, only 3,994 AIDS cases had been detected but, according to the Health Ministry, there are now 7,000. The real number could be much higher. It is estimated that there are some 70,000 HIV-carriers who have not yet developed full- blown AIDS, says Jorge Sanchez, director of the Ministry of Health's AIDS Control Programme. Peru has 24 million inhabitants.

With the support of UNAIDS, the Ministry of Health has implemented a prevention programme to curb the expansion of the epidemic. One of the programme's objectives is to inform people about the virus and teach them how to avoid contracting it.

According to a report based on the National Demographic and Family Health Survey, 96 percent of Peruvian men know that HIV exists and that it is transmitted sexually or through contact with the blood of an infected person. But other surveys reveal that many people to not use condoms during casual sex, and many are not sure whether HIV can be contracted through external physical contact, such as a handshake.

The dissemination of information about the means of contagion not only helps to curb the spread of HIV, but is also necessary to halt the discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS suffer, particularly in the workplace.

"Ignorance and social fear have created a wall of prejudice," says Martha. "Many of our members were fired from their jobs when it became known that their partners had died of AIDS."

"That's illegal. The Penal Code provides for sanctions against employers who fire workers because they are sick or deny them services they are entitled to," Jara argues. "However, people are sometimes not fired, but subjected to hostility and marginalization in the hope that they will leave on their own account.

"Not even doctors, who should know how to behave, react well. I was denied dental services in a state hospital because I told them I was HIV-positive. I had to go to the Office of the Ombudsman to get the services I needed." (END/IPS/al/ff/he/mg/kb/98)

980909
IP980901

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1998. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 1998. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .