• Wednesday, December 14, 2011
• Inter Press Service

'At the clinic we were attended to by a woman who criticised us and only talked to us about religious questions,' says Carlos Valdez of Proyecto Unidos, an NGO in Guatemala that fights for access to HIV/AIDS prevention services by homosexuals and sex workers.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people 'face discrimination in health centres due to homophobia and transphobia, and do not receive treatment tailored to our needs. That's why we still represent the largest number of cases of HIV,' Valdez told IPS.

Among men who have sex with men in the country, 7.6 percent were HIV-positive in 2010, according to the study 'Intensificación de las acciones de prevención y atención integral en VIH y sida en grupos vulnerables y áreas prioritarias de Guatemala' (The Intensification of Preventive Actions and Integral Attention to HIV/AIDS in Vulnerable Groups and Priority Areas of Guatemala), carried out by World Vision.

However, other organisations put the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among sexual minorities much higher. A total of 22,647 cases of HIV/AIDS were officially reported in Guatemala between 1984 and 2010, according to the ministry of health and social assistance, although NGOs say that figure would grow considerably if it included the unregistered cases.

Meanwhile, the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) estimates that more than 65,000 people in this Central American country of 14 million people are living with the disease, many of them without even knowing it.

Valdez said the country has taken 'few steps' for preventing the spread of HIV among vulnerable groups. But one of the advances made was the opening of five clinics catering to members of sexual minorities.

'This kind of service should be available in all hospitals, in order to eliminate homophobia, which is the biggest hurdle we face,' he said. Valdez also mentioned the special training that all medical personnel in the clinics should receive.

'Doctors only examine a man's penis, but in the case of people of diverse sexual orientations, they should check other parts of our bodies too,' he said.

He also stressed that health personnel in the specialised clinics should follow codes of conduct and standards regulating their treatment of members of sexual minorities, which prohibit discrimination. Although public health professionals should set an example in the treatment of members of sexual minorities, the reverse is true, said Gabriela Dávila, a leader of Gente Positiva, a local NGO which works to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV.

'There is total discrimination towards people of sexual diversity,' she said. 'Health care workers pigeonhole them, stigmatise them, and do not keep the results of HIV tests confidential - everyone finds out later who tested positive, and the abuse begins.'

Dávila told IPS that health workers need in-depth training about HIV/AIDS, because 'they often believe that they will be infected through simple physical contact with a transgender person or a sex worker, which is not true.'

Ana Gladys Ollas, the women's rights defender in the office of Guatemala's human rights ombudsman, told IPS about the case of a public health worker who tested positive for HIV, and 'who was shunned by her colleagues when they found out, and had to be transferred to another area.'

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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