Thread: HIV Aids and the illegal migrants

I don't know if this is a repeat but here it goes:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... 121D80.DTL

Please forward this to your local health departments to see what they are doing to prevent the spread of this disease in your neck of the woods..

(04-20) 00:01 PDT Fallbrook, Calif. (AP) --


On survey days, Alicia Vera rises bleary-eyed before dawn, downs a cup of coffee and heads for nearby fields and churches to help stop the spread of AIDS.


She is working on one of the most comprehensive studies yet on AIDS and HIV risk among the state's estimated 1.3 million migrant farm laborers.


By contacting workers on their own turf, researchers hope to break down economic and cultural barriers that isolate what they call an invisible population.


"Previous studies of the migrant population have generally shown a fairly high amount of risk behavior but not a lot of HIV," said George Lemp, director of the Universitywide Aids Research Program being done by the University of California system.


"The concern is whether with that much risk behavior, the HIV epidemic is on the threshold of a rapid increase," he said.


To keep that from happening, UARP is working with state agencies, clinics and even the Mexican government to test and educate migrants.


In northern San Diego County, Vera's team from the Vista Community Clinic scribbles medical histories, takes blood samples and answers questions from workers. An encouraging 75 percent of those tested for HIV eventually get their results and education about the disease, she said.


Among them is Jose Hernandez, 35, a native of Oaxaca who has lived six years in a makeshift plastic room near the fields where he picks strawberries and avocados.


"It's scary, but I go now," he said.


Researchers said migrants who spend long stretches of time away from their families can be exposed to HIV through sex with other workers and prostitutes.


"A person has needs," Hernandez said. "You are here, very alone."


Many migrants forego condoms and sometimes share needles to inject vitamins to stave off illness and exhaustion, Lemp said. Hernandez knows condoms are important but admits he doesn't always use them.


The number of migrant workers with HIV in California is difficult to calculate because the population is so mobile. Many are in the country illegally and fear contact with health workers could lead to their deportation.


Still, researchers have spotted some alarming trends.


UARP workers have identified five cases of HIV among the 781 people in its ongoing study of urban and rural immigrants.


"Ten years ago, you weren't finding any incidence of HIV among migrants in California, so this is significant," UARP researcher Maria Hernandez said.


Pregnant women in labor at a hospital in Tijuana — a stopover point for many migrants — had an HIV rate four times higher than similar groups in this country and Mexico, according to a recent study by the University of California, San Diego.


With no hard data on the number of migrants with HIV, money for prevention has been limited.


Fernando Sanudo, health promotion director at the Vista clinic, said federal money for his outreach program dropped by $18,000 this year to about $58,000. Funding has also dropped for other agencies, and it is increasingly directed toward research instead of prevention, he said.


Money is not the only problem. Outreach workers face cultural barriers in migrant communities where issues of sex and the body are not readily discussed.


Armando Lunes Gomez, 17, of Chiapas has been in this country a year and lives with his older brothers. He says they have not discussed the use of condoms with him.


"I know about prevention a little, but we don't really talk about that," he said.


Sanudo said growers have been supportive of the research. But much of the testing and education takes place outside fields so work isn't interrupted.


Elisa Noble, health and safety director for The California Farm Bureau Federation, said growers are working with the Legislature, clinics and insurance groups to come up with an affordable health coverage system.


"Obviously there's still a lot of hoops to jump through and a lot of things that need to be done so that it's a feasible program," Noble said.


Clinic workers are also worried about public backlash against aiding migrant workers, many of whom are undocumented.


Efforts in Arizona to block social services for undocumented immigrants and recent Minuteman border patrol efforts have heightened that concern.


Lemp, however, said California can't afford to ignore its migrant population.


"We could face a marked increase in HIV transmission, and we will all pay for it later," he said.

Our government needs to hold Mexico accountable for all of the expenses that their citizens are accumulating. If they don't want to pay us in cash, then they can pay us in oil or other natural resources. Rape by illegals are increasing, and they have no business being in our country, period. Let's build the fence, eliminate incentives and elect Tancredo. Problem solved.

the first article talks about the decreasing funds to help these hiv 'migrants', all i can say is any money is to much! they need to be deported and mexico needs to deal with THEIR problem. the money to help these invaders is from Americas hard working middle class. many of whom need that money for their own families and health issues. our government throws around 'tax dollars' like it came from some tree out back that is outrageous!

We are not responsible to Mexican citizens period!

The government of Mexico has to take responsibility and take care of it's people. The churches should start helping in Mexico and South America and stop blaming us. We give to charity but we should not give into people who are stealing from us.

Go back and fight for change in your own country!

Mexico and other countries need provide medical care for their citizens. Most of the central american countries and mexico have enough natural resources to be able to pay for the medical care for their citizens. When an Illegal is determined to be sick, they should be immediately deported.

Sometimes the best thing that you can do for a person is nothing. Do you ever notice that the more a person does, the more that he can do? The reverse is also true. The "helpless" just get more helpless with time. Let them fend for themselves.