Inter Press Service - July 3, 2007
Raúl Gutiérrez

The Salvadoran Public Health Ministry and Social Security Institute report that they tested at least 40,000 people for AIDS in the country's public hospitals and health centres, and in parks and shopping centres, on Jun. 27, which was declared National Day for HIV testing.

But experts who spoke to IPS said the government campaign, which got underway in late June, is merely aimed at improving the country's international image and drawing positive media attention, while the number of cases continues to rise.

On Jun. 27, people waited in long lines to take free HIV/AIDS tests in the Plaza Cívica, a busy square in the capital, as police stood by to keep order. María Rodríguez, 52, stood under the hot noon sun to have the exam done.

"This is good, because sometimes you want to take the test but can't afford to," said Rodríguez.

Dr. Jeannette Alvarado, local health representative for the international Social Watch network, told IPS that the Public Health Ministry used the National Day as a publicity stunt.

"They want to show that they are living up to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), that living conditions are improving in this country, that the health policies are working," said Alvarado, who works with the Fundación Maquilishuat (FUMA), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to providing health assistance.

In September 2000, the 189 United Nations member countries adopted the eight MDGs, one of which is to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

Thirty-year-old Silvia (not her real name) and her two children, ages 10 and seven, are living with HIV and face constant discrimination, even from the doctors who have attended them.

"The care they give us is quite bad. They don't give us the thorough check-ups that we need. It's as if the doctors were afraid to touch us. I switched doctors because I had that problem," said Silvia, who tested positive for HIV 11 years ago and who asked not to be identified for fear of even greater discrimination.

In addition, there is a shortage of anti-retroviral medicines in health centres, and of the equipment used to track the progress of HIV infections, she said.

She has even heard the following said: "Why give them medicine if they are going to die anyway."

Between 1984, when the first case of AIDS was diagnosed in El Salvador, to February 2007, 18,282 cases have been reported, said the local coordinator of the Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Elina Miranda.

According to the Public Health Ministry, 318 people have died so far of AIDS in this Central American country.

Miranda told IPS that heterosexual relations are the main cause of infection, accounting for 79 percent of cases, while more and more women are being infected. In 1991 the ratio was 3.2 men with HIV for every 1.7 women, compared to 1.7:1 in 2006.

But in El Salvador, the underregistration rate is 60 percent, due to the lack of a well-established epidemiological system, said Miranda.

The 2006 report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) stated that although the data were incomplete, the available statistics on HIV indicate that the epidemic in Central America is growing, with some of the highest rates in Latin America.

Public Health Ministry figures show that in Honduras, there were 20,283 cases registered as of 2004, and 10,306 in Guatemala as of 2006.

Between 39 and 47 million people are living with HIV worldwide, and 1.7 million in Latin America, according to U.N. figures.

Alvarado said the irregular handling of anti-AIDS funds has led to problems both in terms of reliable monitoring of the number of cases and access to international funding for anti-retroviral drugs.

"These indicators (presented by the government) are aimed at creating an image that is not real, which means the necessary precautions are not being taken," said Alvarado.

In the view of Mario Orellana, representative of the non-governmental organisation Prevensida, which is participating in the "Take the test" campaign, the government effort suffers from several shortcomings.

"More monitoring is needed, as well as greater awareness-raising efforts and systematic consciousness-raising campaigns," said Orellana.

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+ SOUTH AMERICA: AIDS Meds for All, But at Higher Prices (http://www.aegis.org/news/ips/2007/IP070613.html)

+ HIV/AIDS: More IPS News (http://www.ipsnews.net/hivaids.asp)

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