Guanajuato ranks first nationally in virological control for people with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Since 1988, World AIDS Day has been celebrated every December 1st, and this year’s motto was “Let’s raise our hands for #HIVprevention” (“Levantemos las manos por la #prevenciónVIH), where government, health institutions and civil associations commemorate this date.
Since 2008, the Guanajuato’s Health Secretariat has not registered any cases of newborns infected with the virus during gestation.
In the municipality of León, 1,112 patients are treated free of charge at the Ambulatory Center for the Prevention and Care of Aids and Sexually Transmitted Infections (Capasits – Centro Ambulatorio para la Prevención y Atención del Sida e Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual), located next to the Regional General Hospital (HGR).
The Capasits also provide support in the municipalities of Irapuato with 526 patients and Celaya with 695, with a total of 2,242 patients currently treated statewide.
(Image: am.com.mx)
The Mexican states with the largest number of people infected with HIV / AIDS are Campeche, Guerrero, Chiapas and Yucatan.
Anyone, regardless of age or gender, can be carrier of HIV.
The Capasits offer several medical services, and attention at different departments, such as infectology, psychology, nutrition, prevention information, free condom distribution and rapid testing, all of this in a confidential way.
Pregnant women can request “the SSG rapid test” to rule out the possibility of carrying the virus; and if the result is positive, the retroviral treatment begins as soon as possible, in order to prevent HIV transmission to the unborn baby.
HIV causes the destruction of the body’s defenses, and then it becomes AIDS, stage at which the person can develop various diseases. The virus has been found in pre-ejaculatory fluid, semen, blood, vaginal secretions and breast milk.
The Guanajuato’s Council for Prevention and Control of HIV / AIDS (Cogusida – Consejo Guanajuatense para la Prevención y control del VIH/Sida) is part of the Health’s Secretariat that aims to fight AIDS by combining inter-institutional and insectorials efforts with those of the civil society in León, Guanajuato, and Irapuato.
Dr. María Fátima Noriega Ayala, director of Cogusida, said: “our goal is to eliminate HIV, no later than 2030. But now, we expect that by 2020 we will have around 90% or more of the people detected and controlled”.
The time for a patient to develop AIDS is five years without treatment, but if HIV is detected opportunely, with the specific care and treatment, the life expectancy of the person can be significantly longer.
“Here in Guanajuato we want to encourage people to go to the Capasits and Health Centers to be tested and not be afraid”, Noriega concluded.
Source: https://www.am.com.mx/
