This article appeared in La Razon, November 27, 2011; for full Spanish article, please check the link below, excerpts follow:
Chart below shows the distribution of reported cases, by sex, by department, from 1984 to June 2011.
A study of the social, political and economic context of people living with HIV in Bolivia, was made in 2011.
The document, which La Razon had access to, detailed that the main concern of those living with acquired syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus is the discrimination faced in their homes, hospitals and work by lack of information and State and regional policies.
The head of the national HIV/AIDS of the Ministry of health program, Carola Valencia, recognized that this problem is recurrent, but assured that health personnel and the population continues to be educated and trained to overcome it.
In Bolivia, the first case of HIV / AIDS was presented the year 1984, in Santa Cruz, since that decade, the discrimination was a detrimental factor. By June of this year, HIV cases exceed 6,800.
The study was carried out between the months of May to October and covers the social, political and economic context of people living with HIV/AIDS in seven cities: La Paz, El Alto, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, Tarija, Oruro and Trinidad. Open questionnaires and interviews were made to understand the situation of persons living with this illness.
Struck by a revelation: the rejection felt by those living with the virus on the part of their families. One of the stories gives an account of the death of a person with AIDS living in Trinidad, after which his family refused to prepare a wake ceremony with his remains and burned his bed. “Some people (with the disease) do not have a wake, nor dignified burial,” reads the study.
This December 1st will mark the international day for the prevention of HIV/AIDS.
We have to acknowledge that AIDS is a fact of human life, and as such we cannot continue to behave like barbarians. We must accept and respect those who have this illness and have to be aware of the proper measures to prevent it.
Bolivian Thoughts | Pensamientos Bolivianos (Bilingual/Bilingüe) 
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