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[News updated on 11/17]

Photo: Courtesy of Ciclo Positivo/Tomás Ramírez Labrousse

This Wednesday, the Social Action and Public Health Committee will discuss the bill on HIV, Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, and STIs . The current law dates back to 1990. The new bill, which has already received a favorable opinion from the Social Action and Public Health Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, incorporates a gender perspective, human rights, and the eradication of stigma. If it does not advance this year, it risks losing its parliamentary status once again.

Last September, a bill was presented to the Chamber of Deputies . Among the articles the Ministry of Health suggested eliminating are those related to retirement and pensions, non-contributory pensions, the creation of the Fund for Strengthening Civil Society Organizations, and the creation of the National Observatory against Stigma and Discrimination.

What happened to the projects? 

The first two attempts to introduce the bill failed. In 2016, the bill received a favorable report from the Health Committee, but it couldn't get through the other two committees. In 2018, it failed to obtain a favorable report from any of the three committees. This time, there was more hope than in those previous years. 

“Since we started working on this project, more than 10,000 people have died from HIV-related illnesses,” explained Matías Muñoz, president of Ciclo Positivo. He added, “We believe progress is slow because HIV hasn’t been on the public or political agenda for years .”

The bill presented last year was signed by leading members of parliament from various political blocs and had the support of the Ministry of Health and UNAIDS. But for now, it's not enough.

According to organizations working on this issue, the obstacles may lie in the lack of awareness among members of parliament regarding the social and community impact of HIV , and in their failure to grasp the scope of such a comprehensive and holistic approach that involves more public policies than just healthcare.

María Eugenia De Feo, president of the HCV Without Borders Foundation, wonders if the delay in processing the bill is due to the current political climate, the urgency of addressing other health-related resolutions due to the pandemic, or the need to resolve other legislative projects with a greater socio-communicative impact because of the upcoming elections. But she has no answers. 

“We don’t know; what we do know is that people with chronic viral hepatitis remain helpless and at the mercy of political will to receive medical care, diagnostic studies, and treatments,” he said. 

What he does know is what will happen if the bill does not move forward: “Tens of thousands of Argentinians will learn their diagnosis of chronic viral hepatitis at an advanced stage of the disease, no one will take responsibility for this situation that could have been avoided, and if they are also unable to work due to their health condition, they will not receive the socio-economic assistance they need.” 

The bill focuses on the social determinants of health, and on stigma and discrimination. As Matías Muñoz explained, people who die from HIV-related illnesses don't die for lack of medication: “The problem is that to get medication, you need the means to monitor your health. And that means having a job where you're not in a precarious position and at risk of being fired for having to go once a month to get medication, or because if your employers find out you have HIV, they'll fire you. Or even being unable to get a job because they require HIV testing during pre-employment medical exams.” 

The promise to treat it

The bill, introduced last September, bears the signatures of 29 members of parliament from various political blocs: Frente de Todos, UCR, Coalición Cívica, PRO, Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores, and the Socialist Party . Carolina Gaillard is the first signatory.

On July 19, there was a virtual meeting of advisors to the members of the Social Action and Public Health Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation. 

Gaillard believes it will be passed before the end of the year. She considers its approval crucial because "it's a law that shifts the focus from the biological approach of the old HIV law to a rights-based one, guaranteeing access to healthcare, treatment, and support for people living with HIV." 

Key points of the project

At the time of the presentation, almost a year ago, the organization Ciclo Positivo highlighted some of the main points of this new project:

1. The shift in perspective: the 1990 law has a biomedical focus, while the current bill adopts a gender and human rights approach. It seeks to highlight the social determinants of health and eliminate stigma. 
2. Prohibition of HIV, Hepatitis, TB and STI testing for employment in pre-employment medical examinations. 
3. Non-contributory pensions for people with HIV and Hepatitis B or C who have unmet needs. Provision of treatment for those who acquired the virus through mother-to-child transmission and for other key populations such as women, trans people, transvestites, and non-binary people, etc.
4. Creation of a National Commission on HIV, Hepatitis, TB and STIs made up of different ministries, scientific societies and civil society organizations that work on the issue. 
5. Extension of the provision of formula milk up to 18 months (previously it only went up to 6 months) for babies of positive mothers. 
6. Creation of the National Observatory on Stigma and Discrimination within the INADI framework, seeking to ensure that HIV infection, Hepatitis B or C, TB or any STI cannot be used to impede the exercise of rights. 

August 12: HIV visibility 

Another bill introduced in Congress seeks to establish August 12 as the Day of Visibility for the Rights of People Living with HIV. On that day in 1960, Roberto Jáuregui , the first person living with HIV who was publicly available.

The project also mentions including this day in the curriculum of the education system, at its different levels and modalities, and also training health personnel to eliminate stigma and discrimination towards people with HIV.

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