Patricia Watson, Features Co-ordinator
FIVE JAMAICAN women living with HIV/AIDS filed petitions with the Inter American Human Rights Commission in Washington last week asking that it orders the Jamaican Government to provide them with antiretrovirals.
The petitions were brought by the Agua Buena Human Rights Association on behalf of the women.
The youngest of the women is 18 years old and the oldest is 48 years old. Three of the women, according to the letters from the doctor treating them, are "showing signs of increasing severe immunedepression (and do not) have the monetary funds to do the necessary investigations CD4 count or viral load nor they can afford antiretroviral medications."
When contacted by Outlook, the doctor explained that "clinically the three have AIDS and one has gone past the stage where medication will help."
She noted that what is sad is that four of the five women have children. All five have no family support and are basically fighting the disease on their own. Without the medication, the women will die soon.
The 18-year-old girl, according to her doctor is "a quiet, bubbly young person who has had a difficult childhood. She had a number of sexual encounters from a very young age she was basically seeking attention.
"For all five women it is really money and lack of family support."
In a letter sent to Outlook from director of the Agua Buena Human Rights Association, Dr. Richard Stern, he notes that "Jamaica does not provide antiretrovirals to anyone at the moment, except to avoid mother-to-child transmission, and only during pregnancy. Viral load testing is not available, and even CD4 testing, done by one private laboratory, costs US$100."
Dr. Stern noted that "no one wants to file actions on an international level against a government. Perhaps it is true that the Heath Care authorities in Jamaica are 'well intentioned' and really concerned about people with AIDS. But when you are a young woman with two children, and too sick to work, and you are in the advanced stages of a terminal disease, 'well intentioned', may not be good enough."
He further noted that "....These five women want to live, their immune systems are severely weakened and they could die at any moment. They urgently need medications, for their opportunistic infections, as well as the antiretrovirals to help them really recover their health."
Dr. Stern argued that "if the Jamaican Government was motivated, it could treat people with AIDS for just over $1/day by buying antiretroviral cocktails directly from companies like CIPLA and Rambaxi, whose products are approved by the World Health Organisation. Or it could negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies that have participated in the CARICOM regional negotiations which
have resulted in significant price reductions for a variety of products."
In 2002, Agua Buena successfully filed petitions with the Interamerican Commission regarding seven Latin American countries where treatment access is not provided. The Commission approved "temporary protective orders" in these cases, and asked governments to provide the medications to the petitioners.
