Health News
2007-01-25
Homophobia
undermines fight against HIV and AIDS in Caribbean
Widespread
ignorance about HIV and AIDS is undermining efforts to fight
the spread of the virus in the Caribbean, wh
Widespread
ignorance about HIV and AIDS is undermining efforts to fight
the spread of the virus in the Caribbean, which has the
second-highest rate of infection after sub-Saharan
Africa, health officials said last Sunday.
Discrimination by employers and others is so pervasive that
infected people often delay seeking treatment for the virus,
which is still largely perceived as a ''gay disease''
by many in the region, said officials at a one-day
Caribbean Summit on HIV/AIDS in St. Croix.
''It's going to
be a political challenge because, unfortunately, we live
in a society that is very homophobic,'' said Douglas Slater,
health minister for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
''It's something we are going to have to overcome.''
Lingering social
stigma associated with the disease keeps many from
receiving treatment, meaning AIDS cases in the region are
likely underreported, said Bruce Smail, director of a
patients' advocacy group in the Virgin Islands. ''They
won't even come into the office because people know
what we do. They will give up the possibility of treatment
just not to be seen,'' Smail said.
The 15-member
Caribbean Community, known as Caricom, has not secured
enough international funding for prevention and treatment,
said U.S. congressman Donald M. Payne, a Democrat from
New Jersey who serves as cochair of the
Congressional Caribbean Caucus. (AP)
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