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Past Editions |
 Last month,
a group of global leaders met in New York to discuss the progress made in
the fight against HIV/AIDS. Five years after the representatives of 189
countries gathered at a Special Session of the United Nations (UN) in 2001
to pledge their commitment to halting the AIDS pandemic, there was some
good news: for the first time infection rates had slowed. The bad news:
only a few countries had met the goals set by the 2001 meeting. As Peter
Piot, head of the UN AIDS agency remarked, “I think we will see a further
globalization of the epidemic spreading to every single corner of the
planet.”
One corner of the planet where HIV/AIDS continues to spread is Central
America—a region that includes four of the six countries with the highest
rates of HIV/AIDS in Latin America: Belize, Honduras, Panama and
Guatemala. Honduras, one of the poorest nations in the area, is home to
17% of Central America’s population. However, 60% of the region’s HIV
infections are reported there.
While governments around the globe are making efforts to control the
epidemic, there are still too many people living with HIV/AIDS who have
little or no access to lifesaving medicines. In 2003, AIDS Healthcare
Foundation partnered with the Episcopal Church of Honduras to form Siempre
Unidos—committed to providing medical care to the nation’s neediest
citizens. Siempre Unidos now operates three free AIDS treatment clinics—in
San Pedro Sula, Siguatepeque and on the island of Roatan. In a part of the
world where discrimination against those living with HIV/AIDS often leads
to unemployment, Siempre Unidos opened a sewing factory where patients can
work and earn a living to support their families. All profits from the
factory go toward patient care at Siempre Unidos clinics.
Later this month, AIDS Healthcare Foundation will again partner with local
organizations to open a free AIDS clinic—this time at a hospital in the
city of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. The patient population will be
low-income residents of the 9,000 small communities spanning the area from
southwestern Guatemala into southern Mexico.
As governments, ministries of health, and non-governmental organizations
strive to meet the urgent needs of people living with HIV/AIDS around the
globe, the hope is that another five years will bring lower infection
rates and universal access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications to all those
in need in “every single corner of the planet.” |