Although it may seem incredible, the vast majority of Argentines who contract HIV still do so by
not using a condom
.
The data was highlighted by the AHF Foundation on the eve of International Condom Day, which is celebrated this Tuesday, February 13.
The information comes from official statistics, which is why this global NGO, based in the country, called to guarantee access to condoms, while warning that
the economic crisis
is cutting access to this key tool against transmitted infections. sexual.
Almost a year ago,
Clarín
reported that a box of the cheapest condoms for three units cost 420 pesos.
Today, you have to start from a floor of 1,320 pesos to get the same product.
It means an
increase of 214 percent
.
After reaching a sales peak in 2012, with 180 million units sold in the country (which represented a doubling of the figure in a decade), the annual levels
have been declining
.
This decline, coinciding with the deepening of the economic crisis and the lack of awareness, is also contemporary with a
declining HIV
mortality rate : today it is
3.8
per 100 thousand inhabitants in men and
1.7
per 100 thousand in women.
Experts insist that there be public campaigns for the correct use of condoms.
Photo: Shutterstock.
Specifically, AHF cited the recent Bulletin of Response to HIV and STIs in Argentina to state that
99 percent
of new infections of the AIDS virus in men are due to not using a condom, the same as for
98 percent
of women. women.
Despite the protection methods available, there are an average of
5,300 new cases
annually.
13 percent do not know and 44.5 percent arrive late to the diagnosis.
This means that of the estimated 140,000 people living with HIV in the country, only
68,000
are receiving treatment in the public subsystem.
“It is important that
public prevention campaigns
, which have not been carried out for years, be expanded and continuity be given to the free and accessible condoms.
It is also important to raise awareness about correct use throughout the encounter and inform about the existence of other types of condoms, such as internal or vaginal, or latex condoms for all types of practices," said Natalia Haag, national director of Testing and HIV prevention in AHF Argentina.
Promoted and established by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), International Condom Day
was first celebrated 16 years ago
to promote the use of this effective barrier method, which can help people stay healthy and avoid more than
20 infections.
sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
Eliminating HIV and other STIs completely, they explained, would be possible if all people used condoms
in all their sexual relations
, but there are still accessibility problems
“for economic reasons
,” they stated from AHF, which distributes more than a million condoms for free. by year.
In this sense, Haag added that “public campaigns accompanied by dissemination and information on correct use are a
fundamental resource
for public health.”
María Sol Barrientos, gynecologist and member of the Adolescence program at the Hospital de Clínicas, focused on the adolescent segment, to warn that although the economic issue is
one of the aspects
that can enhance the deficit, it is not the only one.
“The challenge is to make them aware of the
number of
sexually transmitted infections to which they could be exposed and the implications they have on their health.
"The majority only have knowledge of perhaps the most popular diseases such as HIV, hepatitis or syphilis, but they cannot really identify
their
impact on their health or the existence of other diseases," said the expert.
The doctor added that although more and more adolescents are asking about methods, "they do not think about asking what the risks of
not using a barrier method
are , beyond unwanted pregnancy."
And he criticized how they obtain information on the subject: “We currently have the job of “fighting” against the
myths that arise on social networks
, where there is a lot of misinformation about contraceptive methods in general and sometimes they trust sources that do not have medical information.
That is why
Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE)
and the beginning of medical consultations at the beginning of puberty are so important.”
Perhaps in a fit of realism and in the face of a deepening crisis, the government of Javier Milei made an administrative change in its original position of campaign against the ESI, to go from the initial and ideological desire to prohibit it, to the current one of -as opportunely reported in this medium- promote and develop it.
P.S.