According to a statement from AKEL, Mr. Koukumas who chaired the session said that it constitutes a double whammy when science makes leaps and bounds but health systems are left behind and when state laws and practices remain anchored in the past.
He also observed that social perceptions are still based on inhuman prejudices against HIV-positive people, which are not based on the data and achievements of science.
He went on to say that after discussing the issue, the Commission set specific priorities, such as the issue of staffing the Gregory Clinic, which he said instead of having at least two doctors has only one, who will retire in a few months.
On this specific priority, he said it is absolutely urgent to ensure the proper functioning of the clinic in terms of medical and nursing staff, to upgrade access to antiretroviral and pharmaceutical treatment and to ensure its administration from hospitals all over Cyprus and not only from the Larnaca hospital.
He further stated that there is a need to re-evaluate all the laws and decrees of the Republic of Cyprus which, due to anachronistic provisions, victimize HIV-positive people, with discrimination in employment and education.
"It is not possible for the Cypriot state to remain with the perceptions of the 1980s regarding HIV," he added.
Mr. Koukumas also said that the 300 euro allowance given to HIV-positive people as an incentive to continue their antiretroviral treatment is insufficient to meet the socio-economic needs of the people who are experiencing the consequences of the virus and the consequences of the prejudices about the virus, which leave them in unemployment, social marginalisation and destitution.
According to a statement from DISY MP Rita Superman said that the issues that have been raised during the session are the anachronistic decree of the Ministry of Health according to which foreign carriers, suffering from infectious diseases including AIDS, are to be deported.
She also described as anachronistic the requirement to present a certificate that they do not suffer from these diseases during the recruitment process.
Superman also said that the Gregory Clinic is understaffed to the extent that it cannot cope with the increased caseload, adding that the matter largely touches on the duties of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Public Health who did not attend the meeting.
She also said that following a recommendation to which all members of the Committee agreed, a letter will be sent to the Ministry of Health requesting information regarding the implementation of the anachronistic decree, staffing and other issues concerning the Gregory Clinic, patients' access to their medication and issues concerning the prescription of their medication as well as the training of health professionals.
According to a statement from the DIPA, its MP Alekos Tryfonidis expressed the view that prejudice, lack of proper information of society are the main factors of racism and mistreatment of HIV-positive people.
Referring to the issue of understaffing of the Gregorios Clinic, he said that at the moment there is only one doctor who is leaving in August and pointed out that people from other cities do not have access to medication unless they go to the Gregorios Clinic.
Mr. Tryfonidis further stated that the Democratic Party-Cooperation believes that it is time to modernize the laws that although they do not clearly mention the HIV virus are used to exclude or even stigmatize these people but also to make laws that protect them, there should also be modernized sex education in schools for prevention and information about the virus, to preserve medical confidentiality and the right to confidentiality for HIV-positive people.
We demand and will take all actions necessary to increase the €300 allowance[/B] given to them, he added.
As stated in a statement of the Citizens' Ecological Co-operation Movement, its MP Alexandra Attalidou on the issue of HIV-positive people said that what was mainly discussed during the committee meeting was the right to dignity, access to health, protection of personal data.
She also expressed the view that because science has made leaps and bounds on the issue of HIV positive persons or persons with HIV/AIDS, all the protocols in the Ministry of Health, and in the relevant agencies that force persons to undergo testing or discrimination towards them because they are HIV carriers should be updated.
"What is needed immediately is a great awareness, education and information of all those involved in health and support issues," he continued, adding that the Gregorios Clinic should be strengthened immediately.
He also said that it is imperative to ensure that HIV carriers are facilitated access to modern drugs that help in dealing with the virus.
Source: CNA
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