Factors influencing the diagnosis, treatment, and care of persons living with HIV infection in Mexico

Abstract

The overall prevalence of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Mexico is relatively low when compared to other middle-developing countries. In this chapter we use findings from a survey of attitudes and beliefs of nurses practicing in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, recent scholarly publications, and public health data to provide a description and an analysis of the factors that are known to influence HIV care and prevention in Mexico. Over the past decade or so, there has been much progress in preventing transmission of the disease and in improving the care of persons already infected. The major challenges that remain relate to deficiencies in the numbers of persons being tested, to outreach for particular vulnerable groups, to treatment initiation, to issues related to a culture of machismo and migration, to stigma and discrimination directed toward high risk populations, and to the economic inequality that results from more than half of the population living in conditions of poverty.