AIDS in Belize

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I think that is so true we have got to start taking responsibility for ourselves and or bodies.Women,just because a man "looks clean"is educated or may have a little money does'nt mean anything.Men just because a girl looks clean,says she's been in monogomous realationships,or says"i'm a virgin"does'nt mean anything like i tell my little brother"pretty girls get AIDS too.We can not be so ignorant as to think that this **** can't happen to us.Keep it real man,this disease is killing millions of people every year and the majority of those people are people of color.We must be wise and not let our senses leave us when our juices do!
 
Very very true! Now (2005) it's very different from when we were younger. And that's what we have to stay ever so conscious of, on a day-to-day basis and remain focused. We have to think wisely and not get overwhelmed by our emotions, all the time.
 
I don't get it..girls are still googoo gaga over men visiting from the states...the guys the same...they don't get it....so sad....
 
Ch 5:

Conference seeks to end stigma, discrimination of AIDS
For the past three days, community activists, government officials, and representatives of local non-governmental organizations have gathered at the Princess Hotel to discuss the violation of basic human rights being suffered by persons living with HIV/AIDS and those affected by the deadly disease. With facilitators from the Latin American and Caribbean Council of AIDS Service Organizations (LACCASO), the main thrust of the conference is to promote an understanding of the negative impact of stigma and discrimination experienced by the men, women, children and their families in Belize. According to director of the Alliance Against AIDS, Rodel Beltran Perera, turning a blind eye to the current state of affairs will get us nowhere.

Rodel Beltran Perera, Director, Alliance Against AIDS
"If you want to find out the status, you want to find out your status on HIV and go to a clinic, countrywide, pick any and the services are inadequate, that is the beginning of discrimination and stigmatisation. You are not getting the right information, you are not getting the right treatment, you are not asked the proper questions, you are not provided with counselling; counselling is so important. You must take care of my mental health if you are going to find out issues, certain conditions of my health. And so, we need to ensure that the beginning of the equation is adequately placed so that people from the beginning are comfortable with that new information that can change their lives, can change their behaviour, so from the beginning that is of utmost importance."

Edgar Carrasco, Regional Secretary, LACCASO
"There is a tradition approach on public health, which is recognised that prevention is an obligation, a duty of the state, of the government. But now, AIDS challenges our society and puts on the table a different concept; we have to deal with prevention and treatment. And this is part of the whole concept of human rights and also related to this workshop on stigma and discrimination."

This week's workshop is part of a regional project entitled, "Community based advocacy and networking to scale up HIV prevention alongside expanding treatment access."
 
Ch 7:

HIV Awareness Through Music


The show is called "Be Aware" and that includes everything from HIV and Aids to youth violence. Sunday's show at the Bliss will feature a parade of performances ranging from Ras Indio to the South Central Boys. The show is being held to raise funds for the 'Keep Your Head Up' Project, which is an initiative to provide inner city youths with meaningful alternatives to the streets. It's a lofty goal and one we've heard before, but the show's producer Don White says this time is different. He stopped by studios this morning along with the South Central Boys and the performer called Bastic.

Don White, "Be Aware" Producer


"The show is basically about STD, HIV and Aids, youth violence, domestic violence, and stuff like that. There's going to be a lot of performances, you got a lot of different performers. You got Ganzie on the show, you got Indio on the show, you got Bobo Youth on the show, Dan Man, and so forth. You got Candice Williams, South Central Boys, and of course you got Mr. Bastic himself and myself will be performing at the show.

It's all about trying to help the youths to stay focus and stay positive and use this music that we have. The South Central Boys came up with a remix of the "Be Aware" song, which is about STDs, and we put that to music to remind youngsters that HIV/Aids is dangerous, its out there, it's a predator out there and stuff like that.

We're asking people, children and parents, to come out and get the message. There's going to be some strong messages we'll be putting out at this show right here. At the show we'll also be doing a lot of giveaways. We are giving away some bicycles courtesy of Clasique Productions and Vibz TV and stuff like that. So I'm asking people to come out and support the show."

Showtime is 5 pm Sunday evening at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are going at $20 for adults and $10 for children.
 
Ch 7:

Aids Patient Left To Die on the Street

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In the 16 years between 1986 and 2002, 2,700 new HIV infections were recorded and by comparison 2003 alone, 447 news infections were detected. It's true, more Belizeans than ever are testing positive and sadly more Belizeans are dying. While some experts believe the epidemic might crest, most healthcare professionals don't expect the figures to improve anytime soon.

But while the statistics speak to a distressing trend, those are just numbers. Tonight, we'll show you one of the faces of Aids. It's a story about stigma, discrimination, neglect and a human being, a Belizean, left on the street to die. Keith Swift reports.

Keith Swift Reporting, [[email protected]]
I first met Sarita in April of 1999 after she won 2 thousand dollars playing scratch Lotto.

Sarita Hamilton,
[April 1999] "I just buy the ticket because I felt like I could win something for myself. My mom is not with me and my family is not with me and this is the way that I feel. I really want to be left alone and be happy without people rushing me."

Last month the Sarita we'd met 6 years earlier was a mere shell of that happy and glib Lotto winner. She was stretched out on this sidewalk at the corner of Orange Street and West Canal. She had a bottle of juice next to her, a plate of food someone had left for her, and some spare change. This was the middle of the afternoon on a busy street and pedestrians were passing by in both directions. Most just stared, others, ogled, some had scorn in their eyes, and then there this woman who almost came to tears. This man prayed.

Preacher to Sarita,
"I pray to God that he may revive us in the name of Jesus to let any virus leave from this body. If you want to get saved, it is your choice."

And as unlikely a place as it is, Sarita also found help on this sidewalk.

Chadrick Tingling, PASMO
"I am not here to move her from the street but I just came to ask her if she is okay."

Chadrick Tingling is an HIV outreach educator for PASMO and he was handing out pamphlets in the area when he was told about the ailing woman on the sidewalk.

Chadrick Tingling,
"I came out here this afternoon to go and do some outreach with people to talk about HIV but they sent me over here to see this lady because they want to know what can I do help a lady in this situation since I am a a HIV educator."

The only thing Chadrick could do was to call the police. They responded but there wasn't much the officers in this mobile were willing or able to do. An ambulance team from BERT later arrived on the scene. After much deliberation, she was allowed to pick up her money and they finally helped her into the waiting ambulance. The hesitation might have something to do with what she told me in her own words.

Keith Swift,
What's wrong with you?

Sarita Hamilton, Deceased
"Aids."

Sarita had Aids and she was lying here on the street because she has no other options. Apart from the good Samaritan Home on Church Street there was really no other place in Belize for her to go. And what's worse is that we have confirmed that on the Wednesday we saw her, Sarita had been turned away from these gates at the shelter.

Rodel Beltran Pererra, Executive Dir. Alliance Against Aids
"It is not the first time, it has happened before, and it will continue to happen."

Rodel Beltran Pererra is the Executive Director of Alliance Against Aids and a tireless HIV/Aids advocate. He says Sarita, or anyone in her condition, shouldn't end up on a sidewalk - at least not in 2005.

Rodel Beltran Pererra,
"I think it speaks bad of us as a community. It speaks very ill of us as a people if we're seeing someone suffering, dying on a street, and we do not care to help. That's what happened."

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, National Aids Commission
"Its really an indictment of all of us."

Responsibility for HIV/Aids policy and planning falls on the desk of the head of the National Aids Commission - Dolores Balderamos Garcia. She accepted some blame on the part of Aids Commission but says that ultimately we all failed Sarita.

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia,
"When you have a person with HIV or Aids its not only the responsibility of the Aids Commission or the agencies that make up the Commission. Sometimes its difficult to work with people who are basically adults because if you take somebody off the street and you put them in a shelter and then they walk out, you have to ask yourself what more can we do. When you the case of terminally ill people who are living with Aids, it's a difficult problem that has occupied us for quite some years because as we know the KHMH cannot really house people who are terminally ill, likewise the Good Samaritan Center. This raises the issue of the possibility of a hospice or a care center for persons who are terminally ill."

Both Garcia and Pererra have reservations about creating a hospice, which would amount to a warehouse for those living with aids. They say the solution lies elsewhere.

Rodel Beltran Pererra,
"The minute we see somebody or we suspect anybody out there that is suffering from Aids, get in touch with the Alliance, get in touch with an authority that is able to go in and help the family better understand that illness and then we can care for our loved ones."

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia,
"I think we must learn from the experience. We have said that that occurrence is an indictment on us all but let's take it as an example and move forward with improving the situation and reducing stigma and discrimination."

In the course of producing this story Sarita died and so we can't save her, but we can ensure that this image of an ailing aids patient on the sidewalk is never repeated.

While we have confirmed that Sarita died on November 16th, no one can confirm where she died. CEO in the Ministry of Human Development Anita Zetina disputes allegations that Sarita was turned away from the Good Samaritan Home. She says social workers at the center personally attempted to re-admit Sarita but she refused to stay.

Ambassador Dolores Balderamos-Garcia noted that funds from last year's Living with Hope Telethon are still being used to assist affected families. Even more promising is that 280 Belizeans are now receiving anti-retroviral treatment free of cost through a government programme. A draft national Aids policy is in the works but it's still just that, a draft. That policy addresses in general terms the issue of what to do with the terminally ill.
 
That story was truely sad,but true none the less how horrible for someones child to die so alone like that.To be left out in the cold to suffer from such a painful,and debilitating illness without anyone to care for her or feed her or just love her in her last few days.This is the story of so many AIDS patients lives.I won't sit here and say we must go out and try to change the world,instead let's start by changing our own world, meaning,when you see or meet someone who is afflicted with this illness don't concern yourself so much with how they got it or what decisions they could have made.Help them by giving them a kind word,respect them,treat them exactlly as you would want to be treated if you were sick with AIDS or Cancer or whatever the case may be.We must lead by example in order to make a change. After reading this story I know I will!

ONE LOVE!!!!!!!!:angel
 
Ch 5:

Doctors and nurses discuss HIV/AIDS exposure
It's a side of the war against HIV and AIDS that we don't often hear about...the constant exposure doctors and nurses face by simply doing their jobs. Today, health care professionals from throughout the country gathered in Belize City to discuss the latest techniques in handling blood specimens to ensure accurate, reliable results. But as News Five's Janelle Chanona found out, even among these trained men and women, while there is a real fear of becoming infected, advances in the medical field has made working under less than ideal conditions much more comfortable.

Janelle Chanona, Reporting
For the past fifteen years, Nurse Guillermina Heredia has been working with HIV patients in Belize. But this past September, she had a close call while on a home visit.

Guillermina Heredia, Nurse
”We could be sticked not only by needles, but by other objects. I had an incident that happened to be that I was sticked with a thorn that people usually use it culturally, to bleed the veins of their hands and also the head. And I did a home visit and I sat on it by accident. So accidents do happen, not only at the workplace, but also out of the workplace.”

“I couldn’t say that I feel comfortable but also, it’s part of my job, I see it like that. I know that it could have happened any time, so I am just waiting for the results any time. After December, I have to repeat my test.”

Belize City Nurse Allison Williams knows what Nurse Heredia is going through. Six years ago, she experienced a similar incident.

Allison Williams, Nurse, Port Loyola Health Centre
”I can remember back in 1998/99 thereabout, I had a scary accident whereby I got stuck with a needle and actually this person was HIV positive and at that point in time I didn’t know what exactly to do. But today with the different protocols being put in place, there are things that we should know what we should do. But as I said, back then I didn’t know exactly what to do and it’s very difficult for you to get stuck and have to live with getting the virus from that person that you actually had extracted the blood from.”

And according to Williams, in today’s reality, every aspect of health care in Belize might have life long ramifications.

Nurse Allison Williams
”You know when you are delivering a baby you have the liquid, the fluid that comes out, let’s say for example that person is HIV positive and that liquid should get into your eyes, there is a chance that you could become infected from that person. So there are things that we need to have to do a delivery, like for example, goggles, long aprons.”

“For me, in my area, of course we do not have goggles and so on because I do take my own samples, and I do my own testing, but I’m more cautious now than ever before.”

Dr. Evadne Williams, Dir., Lab Services, Jamaica
”I think throughout the region you will find people who have that fear.”

There are no studies to show the number of Caribbean health workers that have become infected on the job, but according to the Director of Laboratory Services in Jamaica, Dr. Evadne Williams, in cases of accidental exposure, the doctors and nurses of today have far more options available to them than their predecessors.

Dr. Evadne Williams
”The prophylactic treatment is there, it’s there to prevent persons getting infected and it is important that we embrace that mode of treatment because remember, that once you are infected with HIV, you are infected for life. And not only that, but it damages your immune system and it makes you susceptible to so many things. And in the same way that we have give this therapy to women who are HIV positive and pregnant to prevent the virus from being transmitted to the child, that has been shown to work very well. And so I think it’s something that the health care worker especially, who is at higher risk because of the work that we do, I think it’s important that they embrace that mode of prophylactic.”

According to the Belize Social Security Board, health care professionals who become infected with HIV on the job receive post-exposure treatment under the employment injury package.

Yolanda Simon, C.E.O., Caribbean Regional Network of PLWHA
”All of us are living with HIV/AIDS, some infected, but certainly, all of us affected.”

Yolanda Simon is head of the Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS. Simon says without the integral participation of infected persons, a shift in attitudes towards HIV/AIDS will continue to elude the region.

Yolanda Simon, Executive Director
”The people who are living with the virus, needs to be included and involved in a meaningful way. Now everybody says, “who are the people, where are there, we want them to come out.” But come out to what? There are no support systems in place. We are advocating for developing and enabling environments which is that if you come to me, I’m a health care provider, whether I’m a psychologist, the doctor, or the nurse and you says, Yolanda, I have a diagnosis or I have AIDS. I should be able to say, okay, this is where you can get counselling, if you need support for housing this is where you get support for housing. If you are employed and you’ve been dismissed, there is some sort of support. But in the absence of no legal or ethical framework, no political will, issues of confidentiality, people are going to stay underground. Because people out there, believe or not, all the people living with HIV/AIDS in Belize want to come out, they want to, which is what you all want. But they are not going to come out simply to say, my name is and I have HIV/AIDS. And what next? Nobody gives a damn. So somebody better begin to demonstrate they care.”

Simon's visit to Belize is part of a workshop sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization, the Ministry of Health, the National AIDS Commission, and the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre to discuss the economic impact of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean.
 
Ch 5:

Media workers gather to discuss HIV/AIDS coverage
With World AIDS Day just two days away, today the National AIDS Commission and Pan American Health Organization met with Belizean journalists to examine the reporting of HIV/AIDS in Belize. Among the topics were whether or not our print and electronic media are helping to increase awareness of the epidemic and what reporters can do to try and lessen the stigma attached to the disease. A recent report which actually showed a homeless woman dying in the streets has provoked considerable public interest, but questions arise about our portrayal of AIDS victims and just who is responsible for their care. News Five spoke with Ruth Jaramillo of the National AIDS Commission about the issues of individual awareness and collective responsibility.

Ruth Jaramillo, Tech Director, National AIDS Commission
”I want to make a correction; we’ve had public attention on HIV/AIDS all along. What this person’s situation has brought to light is the fact that even though efforts have been made, there is not enough response from our community, from individuals, from families. And this is why we still have so much more to do in terms of the fight.”

“What is our role as individuals? The sad part is when we talk about HIV/AIDS, and we talk to anyone, I am sure if you do an interview people will say, I know about HIV, I know all about it, I know how it is transmitted. But they you ask, can it happen to me, and people stop and, what? What are you talking about? It hasn’t come to terms that this disease, this epidemic can affect each and every one of us, as an individual and how we as humans, should be treating each other.”

According to a report furnished by the National Health Information Surveillance Unit, in 2004 there were four hundred and fifty-seven new reported HIV infections and sixty-five cases of AIDS. Ninety-four people died from the disease in Belize. The Belize District, specifically Belize City, had the highest number of new HIV infections with fifty-four point three percent of the cases being male and forty-five point seven percent female. In terms of this year, in the second quarter of 2005 alone, there were one hundred and twenty-seven new HIV infections reported, five new cases of AIDS, and eighteen deaths. This was for the period April to June of this year. The yearly report for 2005 should come out in January.
 
Ch 7:

Aids Awareness On Your Wrist

And while CAREC is urging the media to "blow-up" the Aids issue with continuing coverage, on December first, the world's attention will be focused on Aids awareness. And while the awareness effort keys in on a single day, the battle is every day and it is a costly one. Now, the Alliance Against Aids in partnership with the Kolbe Foundation has come up with a way to raise money, awareness, and solidarity, all while helping the inmates at the Hattieville Prison. It's not a miracle drug, it's just a bracelet. The Alliance's Rodel Pererra explains how you can do your part.

Rodel Beltran Pererra, Alliance Against Aids
"These silver bracelets are being made by inmates of the Hattieville Prison. There's a new addition to that facility in Hattieville, a jewelry making shop and a number of prisoners have come together in producing a number of items. The idea for the bracelet is to use it as a fundraiser for our agency that will show a message as well as the ribbon of solidarity, which is the Aids ribbon of solidarity. It's a bracelet to raise funds so we're working jointly with that facility in getting them publicized, socialized, (so) that people can support a cause at purchasing of these bracelets."

The bracelets will be available at the Alliance Against Aids Office on Meighan Avenue in Belize City and during the World Aids Day observance later this week.
 
Belize Observes World AIDS Day

01 December, 2005 - Belmopan
World AIDS Day is being observed in Belize and the rest of the world
today, December 1, 2005.

Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Said Musa joined other stakeholders in the fight
against the HIV/AIDS epidemic this morning to reiterate the call for
greater involvement of the Belizean community.

The Prime Minister noted that an inadequate response to the epidemic is
costing the nation. "The costs are evident: significant loss to our
gross domestic product and the erosion of our people's productive
capacity with staggering economic impact. This is why all sectors of
society must become more involved. Both Government and society must
share the responsibility."

The call for greater cooperation was made at a conference organized by
the Pan American Health Organization Belize (PAHO Belize), and attended
by the Prime Minister and religious leaders, a member of an expert team
from the Caribbean Epidemiology Center (CAREC) and the National AIDS
Commission.

In addition to presentations made on the HIV/AIDS situation in Belize
and the challenges and needs of Persons Living With HIV/AIDS, PAHO
Technical Advisor, Sandra Jones, also presented a Regional HIV/STI Plan
for the Health Sector handbook to Dr. Errol Vanzie, Director of Health
Services under the Ministry of Health.

Sandra Jones explained that adequately fighting the epidemic requires
effective scaling up of programs aimed at and cooperation between
sectors, which will result in a more targeted multi-sectoral response.
The regional plan handbook will help Government and organisations to
unify their resources and maximise their efforts; help in achieving the
goal of universal access to comprehensive care and help achieve the
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halting and reversing the spread of
HIV/AIDS by 2015.

Prime Minister Musa remarked that while some advances are being made
against the epidemic such as conducting activities and establishing
programs geared at prevention and raising awareness, providing care
treatment and support, and the 300 Belizeans benefited from Government's
free antiretroviral treatment, "there remain many challenges to be
faced".

He indicated that more people need to become internalized with the
devastating effects which the epidemic brings; more people in the
country need access to the critical services; and more treatment as well
as support and counseling is needed for persons with HIV and AIDS and
their families and friend affected.

However, the Prime Minister said, the most painful symptom of AIDS is
"the sad reality of stigma and discrimination".

Prime Minister Musa endorsed and supported the draft National HIV/AIDS
policy put together by stakeholders countrywide which will guide future
legislation and program development and create and enabling environment
to reduce stigma and discrimination.

The theme for this year's World AIDS Day is 'Make the Promise! Keep the
Promise! Prevent HIV/AIDS'.

World AIDS Day activities will continue throughout the day and will
include a candle light vigil at 5:30pm at the Memorial Park.
 
Address by Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Said Musa, at World AIDS Day Press
Briefing

01 December, 2005 - Belize City
Radisson Fort George Hotel

We come together today to mark an occasion which has been commemorated
since 1989: "World AIDS Day", a day in which we focus our attention on a
21st century epidemic that continues to take a tremendous toll on
humanity.

Though many Belizeans have some knowledge of HIV/AIDS and can generally
identify how this disease is spread, few persons have internalized the
devastating effects the epidemic can have on individuals and their
families and even fewer still have recognized that perhaps they
themselves may be at risk of being infected or affected by this disease.
But the reality remains that HIV/AIDS is not just a topic to be ignored
with the false perception that it is only destroying the lives of those
in Africa, which we so often see and hear about.

Latest statistics are now showing that there are an estimated 40.3
million people currently living with HIV across the world with almost 5
million people newly infected in 2005 alone! The Caribbean is still the
second most affected region in the world with over 300,000 persons
living with HIV/AIDS including 30,000 who became infected within this
year. In Belize, the numbers continue to rise with over 3,500 cases
diagnosed since 1986. For our small population these numbers are very
significant and in Belize we have the third highest infection rate for
the Caribbean.

There is guarded optimism by the United Nation on recent developments in
the Caribbean, for example, countries like Barbados, Bahamas and even
Haiti showing declining rates in infection and deaths due to more
persons accessing the life saving treatment and support.

According to Dr. James Hospedales, Director of the Caribbean
Epidemiology Centre who has just concluding a working visit to Belize
with his team, HIV/AIDS should not be seen as a death sentence but
rather as a chronic disease that can be prevented and treated; yet only
20% of persons in the Caribbean who are in need of these medications are
actually accessing this service.

Health economist with the United Nations Development Program Ms. Donna
Lisa Pena, who is here with us this morning, said it best when she made
the point that we should not be asking how much will it cost to address
the HIV/AIDS epidemic but rather, what will be the greater cost if we
don't. And the costs are evident: significant loss to our gross domestic
product and the erosion of our people's productive capacity with
staggering economic impact. This is why all sectors of society must
become more involved. Both Government and society must share the
responsibility.

Government and civil society have been stepping up the response
conducting numerous activities and establishing programs geared at
prevention and raising awareness as well as providing care, treatment
and support. Today some 300 Belizeans are taking advantage of
government's pledge made a year ago today to provide antiretroviral
medications free of cost to those who need it. Advocacy efforts by
various partners of the National AIDS Commission have met with much
success in involving more sectors as part of the community based
response.

But there remain many challenges to be faced. Efforts need to be more
coordinated so that more people in this country have access to those
critical services. Treatment alone is not enough to improve the lives of
those infected. There is room for additional support. Counseling and
home based care are critical so that families are empowered to take care
of their loves ones ensuring that the sad incident of the woman on the
street does not occur again. It brings to light the sad reality that
stigma, fear and discrimination are still the most painful symptoms of
AIDS.

Women continue to be vulnerable to the epidemic and more so in the
context of violence and abuse which are often perpetrated against young
women and girls. Two thirds of infections are among young girls 15-24.
As I have said before, we must continue the education and empowerment of
girls and women for economic self sufficiency.

Yolanda Simon, a person living with HIV/AIDS who is now the chief
executive officer of the Caribbean Regional Network of People Living
with HIV/AIDS has made the point that we are all living with HIV/AIDS
and that each sector mist address the relevant areas of the ABCs of
prevention because it is not an individual's problem but rather all our
of problem.

It is with this in mind that my government pledges to support the draft
National HIV/AIDS Policy that has been put together with broad
consultation with many stakeholders countrywide which has met with
support in countrywide workshops that have been conducted to build the
consensus for this policy to guide our future plans.

The policy will give teeth to the fundamental guiding principles of
non-discrimination, individual and collective responsibility, voluntary
counseling and testing and confidentiality which are the four
cornerstones of what we believe is the sound foundation that will guide
future legislation and program development. The Policy will be
fundamental in creating the enabling environment to reduce stigma and
discrimination for Belizeans to begin to see more clearly that it is
everybody's struggle and business and it will be equally our success
when we like Bahamas, Barbados etc. unite.

So join me in Making and Keeping the Promise to prevent HIV/AIDS in
Belize and sending the message of hope, and love to all persons LIVING
with HIV/AIDS in Belize.

Thank you.
 
Ch 5:

HIV infected persons: We want love
In more than a hundred countries around the world, today, December first is being celebrated as World AIDS Day under the theme: Make the Promise! Keep the Promise! Prevent HIV/AIDS. Here in Belize, church bells tolled at ten this morning in observance of the millions who have died from the deadly disease. Belize's infection prevalence rates are currently the third highest in the Caribbean, but as News Five's Janelle Chanona discovered, Belizeans have yet to grasp the gravity of the impact HIV/AIDS has on the country's emotional and economic well being.

Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Lighting the “candle of hope” was just one of the official activities marking World AIDS Day in Belize.

Despite what experts call an accelerated reaction in the national response to HIV/AIDS, latest statistics indicate a growing number in reported HIV cases in Belize.

Paul Edwards, Dir., Epidemiology Unit, Min. of Health
”There is still that sense of invincibility that is there in our community. It can happen to everyone and it cannot happen to me. To the numbers keep increasing, but we have to wait until somebody dies from my family or your family for us to recognise that this disease is here.”

And according to people with the disease, fear, stigma, and discrimination continue to be the most painful symptoms of HIV/AIDS.

Jennifer Moguel, Poet
”The way they whisper at my sight,
And talk behind my back.
Just so they feel safe, feel brave.
Oh trust me, they’ll attack.
I’d be lying if I said I never expected that,
But the humiliation, unbearable.
I took it as I silently sat.
After sitting in silence, now you’ve heard me.
But I won’t be silent anymore.
Not about HIV.
All I want from people is a friendly hand, a hug.
Belizeans, please understand,
Only fighting together can the nation survive.”

With that reality in mind today, the Musa administration officially gave its support for the draft National AIDS Policy.

Prime Minister Said Musa
”The policy will give teeth to the fundamental guiding principles of non-discrimination, individual and collective responsibility, voluntary counselling and testing, and confidentiality which are the four cornerstones of what we believe is the sound foundation that will guide future legislation and programme development. The policy will be fundamental to reduce stigma, and discrimination for Belizeans.”

Rodel Beltran Perera, Executive Dir., Alliance Against AIDS
”Yes there is suffering, but we can turn it around and we need to start looking at it now as life, as living.”

According to Rodel Beltran Perera, number one on the wish list for persons living with HIV and AIDS is love and attention.

Rodel Perera
”They want to put an end to the ill treatment, the violations against them, they want to live better. That I think is paramount to what they are telling us, they are tired are being ill-treated. They are people and they need to be treated as people.”

But more disturbingly, today there is little or no information on how HIV/AIDS is affecting our most vulnerable citizens: our children.

Rodel Perera
”That attempt at gathering the information on the children, is very, very important. Children who are infected, and affected, working very closely with the National Committee for Families and Children, the National AIDS Commission, as well as UNICEF to see what, where, they are, that sort of thing. But a great concern, I’m glad that it has been brought up and we need to look very closely at that population, which has nothing to do with it, but are... you know, being born with it and then living, if the services are right in this country, up to seven years old, we gotta do better than that.”

Donna Lisa Pena, Caribbean Epidemiology Centre
”We talk about commercial sex workers, we talk about persons in same sex relationships, but what of the children who are being born into HIV/AIDS. They certainly don’t have that lifestyle and we certainly can’t forget them in our response, they are the future of our countries. We know that productive capacity of persons in Belize are being affected; persons fifteen to forty-nine years old. If you think older people are making bad decisions, you are not only losing your current capacity, but in that pool, you have a number of young people and you are losing the future capacity of your country to respond.”

Yolanda Simon, Caribbean Network of P.L.W.H.A.
”We need to make our personal commitment to the fight. This is not for the health care providers, not for the doctors, not for the Ministry of Health; it is for all of us, each and every one of us individually. But just imagine collectively, what we can do together so we need that commitment now, not World AIDS Day, everyday.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.

As part of activities today, PAHO's Technical Advisor Sandra Jones presented the Ministry of Health with a handbook entitled "A Regional HIV/STI Plan for the Health Sector."
 
Channel 5 - Belize City man: Living with HIV is my reality

Reporting stories on the topic of HIV/AIDS is a sensitive issue throughout the world. Here in Belize, stigma, discrimination, and fear has forced many infected persons to hide their condition so any public exposure is social suicide. But tonight we feature the story of one man who has decided to come forward and offer a voice to hundreds living with HIV.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
This is a typical day for sixty year old Reynaldo Smith, popularly known as “The Snakeman.” Almost every day, Smith can be found on North Front Street in Belize City, making money the only way he knows how: posing with his pets for the tourists.

But there are days when Smith can barely lift his head, much less his snake. Earlier this year, he tested positive for HIV.

Reynaldo Smith, HIV Positive
”The loss of weight, headaches, and sometimes you have pain in the bones, the bones itself hurts, the joints. And it’s not because you have arthritis or anything like that, the sickness gives you that pain.”

Smith says he has braved possible discrimination and stigma against his family to expose the reality of living with HIV in Belize today.

Reynaldo Smith
”When I found out that I was HIV Positive, I thought that a lot of my family would understand, so I told some of them. And the majority of them have stopped talking to me, have stopped dealing with me, have stopped helping me anyway or accepting things from me.”

“A lot of people need the help more than I do and are not getting it either, because a lot of people are living in the streets and they need it, they need somewhere to stay, they need food. Sometimes they have to go eat out of the dirt box. A lot of them eat out of dirt box out there.”

“The people who are, how should I say, supposed to work with HIV needs to do a lot more than they are doing now. They have the facilities, they have the money to do it, and I think they should do an outreach programme.”

Smith believes he contracted the disease through sexual contact three years ago and maintains he was careful not to infect anyone else with the virus.

Reynaldo Smith
”I don’t think so, because from the first time I began suspecting myself of it, I stopped having sex completely, I stopped having relationships, sexual relationships with women and men. I don’t have any kind of sexual relations from that time until now. If I have spread it, it was before I began having the symptoms.”

The prospect of going public with Smith’s condition has raised eyebrows in the social services and medical community due to persistent accusations against him involving allegations of child molestation.

Reynaldo Smith
”I have heard it over and over, people tell me to my face.”

“I have never, never been arrested much less convicted for molesting any kind of child. All my convictions have been for violence. I mean grievous harm, wounding, murder, attempt murder, carrying a conceal weapon, robbery.”

But later, Smith did admit to a rape conviction in the 1980s. However, he contends those incidents are in the past, and he has paid his debt to society for the various criminal offences.

Today, Smith lives in this two storey building, formerly Ghann’s Rest House, on East Canal. His living conditions are far from ideal. Smith is on medication for the deadly virus, which he receives through the Ministry of Health’s free anti-retroviral programme. He says one of the reasons why he decided to make public his health status is because he is disappointed by the way persons living with HIV and AIDS are treated by their families and would like to see a shelter built for people like him.

On a good day, Smith claims to make two hundred dollars a day and says he has no intention to stop hustling from the tourists because he does not believe they are at risk.

Reynaldo Smith
”No, I don’t think so. You can’t ketch HIV from me by talking to me or taking a picture with one of my animals. That’s totally unlikely to happen. They are not getting any blood from me or any kind of fluids passing from me to them, so that’s no kind of problem at all.”

Several AIDS-related institutions contacted by News Five indicated awareness of Reynaldo Smith's condition and we understand he and his family are receiving assistance.
 
Another Belizean said:
Channel 5 - Belize City man: Living with HIV is my reality
Reynaldo Smith
”I don’t think so, because from the first time I began suspecting myself of it, I stopped having sex completely, I stopped having relationships, sexual relationships with women and men. I don’t have any kind of sexual relations from that time until now. If I have spread it, it was before I began having the symptoms.”
Click to expand...
:scared....Whey this mean?......He Bi-Sexual????

This is alarming.....I can only (or can I?:thinking) imagine how many persons got it from him...:mad:
 
Another Belizean said:
Channel 5 - Belize City man: Living with HIV is my reality

accusations against him involving allegations of child molestation.

“I have never, never been arrested much less convicted for molesting any kind of child. All my convictions have been for violence. I mean grievous harm, wounding, murder, attempt murder, carrying a conceal weapon, robbery.”
Click to expand...
Because you've never been caught.....

Originally posted by Another Belizean But later, Smith did admit to a rape conviction in the 1980s. However, he contends those incidents are in the past, and he has paid his debt to society for the various criminal offences.
Click to expand...
How contradicting...wonda WHY they ACCUSE him....

Case closed...as they say in Belize.."every dog has his day". Dude, you are paying your debt back to society. "What goes around comes around." No BAD deed goes unpunished.
 
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