INSTITUTIONAL DECLARATION ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FIGHT AGAINST AIDS

Exhibition of reasons

From the 'Taula per la SIDA', autonomous platform created in 1998 composed by ALAS (Association of fight against AIDS of the Balearic Islands), Ben Amics (Association LGTBI of the Balearic Islands), Red Cross Youth, Metges del Món Balears (Doctors of the World) and Siloé, they want to show the concern and the unrest caused by the abandonment of the HIV awareness and prevention measures by the Public Administration.

They request institutional support and consider necessary the involvement of the Town Hall to act faced with the HIV pandemic, because if we all do not work together, we will continue being one of the Autonomous Communities leading the lists of new cases of HIV. 

This union between the Town Hall and the entities of 'Taula per la Sida' ables a joint front to prevent new transmissions and reinfections by HIV, the fight against the stigma and the discrimination that seropositive people suffer and the promotion of social health policies fair with the dimension of the impact and the problems of the HIV-AIDS in our society. 

The International Day of fight against AIDS is commemorated on 1st December. 

We want to recall that the first cases of AIDS appeared 30 years ago. Since then, they have faced the pandemic which has taken the lives of thousands of women, men, boys and girls of the world. The HIV-AIDS means stigma and discrimination. There are people who think they are guilty for suffering this infection, that the law should separate them or that they should publish their names in order to avoid them. The prejudices are more destructive than the virus itself. 

The scientific advances of the last 30 years have transformed the HIV diagnosis from an incurable disease to a treatable cronic course infection. The affected people can have a life quality similar to the general population if the diagnosis and the establishment of the treatment are made in an early phase of the infection. 

But the reality is that in many countries of Europe, the number of new infections increases year after year and when they are diagnosed they do it in late phases of the infection. 

More than 100.000 cases are diagnosed yearly in Europe, and in Spain the incidence reached the figure of 10.3 new infections per 100.000 inhabitants in 2013, the 80% due to sexual transmission. In addition, up to a 50% of the new diagnosis are late diagnosis, which lead to an increase of the morbidity and the mortality, a higher possibility of transmission and an increase of the costs for the healthcare system, such as the case of parenteral drug users.

This pandemic affects alarmingly the Balearic Islands. Our Autonomous Community, according to the data gathered by the Regional Ministry for Health, takes into account about 1.988 people carriers of the virus since the year 2003. Almost 2.000 people coexist with the HIV in the Balearics, 1.679 correspond to Majorca, 77 to Menorca and 232 to the Pitiüses (Ibiza and Formentera).

It is necessary the union amongst the Public Administrations and the society to enable a common front to prevent new transmissions and reinfections by HIV, the fight against the stigma and the discrimination that seropositive people suffer, and the promotion of social health policies fair with the dimension of the impact and the problems of the HIV-AIDS in our society. 

The ecomomic crisis can not be the excuse to reduce the investment in prevention of the HIV, the health of the entire citizenship is at stake. The NGOs continue covering the work and invite the Calvià Town Hall to reactivate the health policies with their support and daily work.

The International Day of fight against AIDS is celebrated on 1st December which it has been commemorated since 1988. It is necessary that this day occupies the place it deserves in the political agenda, but this is not enough, we must keep the cause in mind the 365 days of the year, because the infections and the suffering of the affected people do not occur just one day.

THE TOWN HALL'S PLENARY SUPPORTS THE PROPOSALS PRESENTED BY 'TAULA PER LA SIDA' AND AGREES TO ADOPT THE FOLLOWING MEASURES:

1.- That the municipality reclaims every 1st December the International Day of fight against AIDS placing a red ribbon on the Town Hall's facade. And that makes extensive the visibility of the event with the possibility of hanging more ribbons in other public buildings.

2.- Develop awareness and prevention programmes or actions focused specifically on the youths, the men who have sex with men, sex workers and people in situation of prostitution or sexual slavery.

3.- Support those organisations which work with seropositive people, either those which work with terminally- ill people or those which work for the prevention of the virus.

4.- Agree with managements, unions, administrations and entities to facilitate the work access to HIV people, disabled or not, figuring or not the diagnosis.

5.- Introduce the psycho-affective education into the school programme, complemented with educational sessions about the prevention of the HIV and from the prespective of educating in the diversity. We should avoid the hetero-patriarchal dominant model and show the richness of the human relations in order to live the sexuality freely and with no discrimination.

6.- Educate the society so it can know the reality of the sexual transmission infections and the HIV, the importance of the prevention and the awareness and not discriminating positive HIV people. 

They will forward this motion to: 

- The central Government through the Ministry for Health, Social Services and Equality, the Ministry for Education and the Ministry of the Interior. 

- The autonomous Government through the Regional Governments with competencies in Education, Health, Social Services and Employment. 

- The organisations for the prevention of the HIV-AIDS of the Autonomous Community.