Spanish HIV NGOs denounce in Europe the abandonment of the response to HIV by the Government

-The Alliance of platforms of HIV, with the support of European NGOs, will send a letter to the Minister of health, requesting to ensure the continuity of the response to HIV in Spain.

-The HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum study measures such as carrying the European Parliament the Government decision Spanish to withdraw the health card to immigrants in an irregular situation.

Spain, 2012-June HIV and AIDS in Spain platforms Alliance has presented a report at the European meeting of the HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum – (Forum HIV / AIDS Civil society) CSF which has denounced the Spanish Government has abandoned the response to HIV and AIDS after the suspension to date of the National Plan on AIDS, doing so jeopardized the progress made during more than three decades by civil organizations working in the prevention and care of HIV / AIDS in our country.

The paper cuts in the Spanish budgets for HIV and removal of the right to health for people illegal immigrants ” (Spanish HIV budget cuts & supressions of right to health care of illegal immigrants), which has been tabled during the meeting of the European civil society by the representative of Spain at the Forum and director of the NGO Hispanosida Ferran Pujol, Spanish civil organisations want to denounce in the European institutions that qualify as a sentenced to death of the Secretariat of the National Plan on AIDS (SPNS), to dynamite the work of all actors involved in the response to HIV, especially civil society, in which mainly fall prevention activities ”.

The HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum is an informal advisory body created in 2005 by the European Commission to facilitate the participation of non-governmental organizations and the networks, including those representing people living with HIV and AIDS, in the development and implementation of European policies in this field and to promote the exchange of information. The first of the two annual meetings of the Forum, which is celebrated on 4 and 5 June in Luxembourg, precedes the meeting of the European Think Tank in the field of HIV / AIDS, meeting of a political nature which would take decisions on the European guidelines in response to HIV and AIDSwhich in addition HIV/AIDS Civil Society Forum serves as an advisory body.

In the words of Ferran Pujol, representative for Spain in the CSF, “in Europe, a country as Spain, with a model hitherto universal health care system, and on the other hand pioneer and successful in preventive policies such as those programmes can hardly be understand risk reduction for injecting drug users or the early diagnosis of HIV in NGO” “and community centres, is back in this way with the mere pretext of economic crisis”.

The report prepared by the Alliance’s platform shows that the Spanish Government has reduced dramatically the budget for grant of shares of care and HIV prevention that so far have been doing the agents involved in the response to HIV, in particular civil societyWhat this decision will at the expense of actions to prevent HIV, reduce its impact and protect the human rights of persons with VH and those at risk of acquiring it.

On the other hand, the report also alleged that, under the pretext of saving in health spending and ensure the sustainability of the national health system, the Congress of Deputies has approved a Royal Decree by which, inter alia, all those immigrants residing in Spain in an irregular administrative situation will no longer have coverage as of August 31. This implies that you persons immigrants in an irregular situation who suffer from serious conditions – such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis or cancer – will no longer receive care and treatment for their illnesses. This measure has been brought into question by international bodies such as the European Public Health Alliance, as well as to highlight the consequences of the Act in terms of public health, has stressed that health policies of the Government contribute to increase inequalities in health in Spain.

Therefore, the platform Alliance considers that the unilateral decision taken by the Government clearly contradicts international treaties–both economic and political–that has assumed the Spanish Executive before bodies such as the Joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGASS), the International Labour Organization (ILO) or the European Parliament (EP), to ensure HIV programmes towards the ‘ objective zero ’: a world with zero new infections with HIV, zero discrimination and zero deaths related AIDS.

Faced with this situation, the HIV NGO platform Alliance has urged all relevant organizations of civil society in Europe to accede to the Charter that they will send to the Minister of health, Social Affairs and equality of Spain, Ana Mato Adrover, which urges the Government to maintain the political and financial commitment to ensure the sustainability and continuity of the Plan national AIDS, that met the objectives of the international agreements signed by Spain with the response to the pandemic of HIV and to respect human rights, including the provision of free health coverage to all persons living in Spain, regardless of their administrative status.

For its part, and after the exhibition of the Spanish situation, CSF has expressed concern to these measures and will consider measures as lead to the European Parliament the Government decision Spanish to withdraw the health card to immigrants in an irregular situation, and issued a statement addressed to the Ministry of health. The European accession process will be completed on 12 June.