Statements and Webcast
Argentina
H.E. Mrs. Marina Kosacoff, Under Secretary of Prevention and control of risks diseases of the Ministry of Health
9 June 2011
Statement Summary
MARINA KOSACOFF, Under-Secretary for Prevention and Risk Control in the Ministry of Health of Argentina, said her country had made significant progress in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. There were now some 130,000 people living with HIV in Argentina. Treatment was free, and 43,000 patients were receiving it. Of that figure, 70 per cent received medication directly from the National Ministry of Health. The rate of new infections had stabilized. AIDS-related deaths had dropped 15 per cent in the last five years. Argentina had implemented a comprehensive education programme to promote prevention, and sexual and reproductive health services were offered for people living with HIV, including women, children, sex workers and their clients, transgender people, men who have sex with men, prison inmates, drug users, indigenous communities and migrants.
She said that Argentina’s same-sex marriage law was a pioneering piece of legislation in the region. This year, the Argentine Senate would discuss a series of initiatives on gender identity laws that would facilitate health-care access for transvestite, transsexual and transgender populations. It would also discuss legislative proposals concerning drug use. She called on Latin American nations to continue collaborating to negotiate prices for drugs to treat HIV and to ensure that they reached those in need. She urged international donors to help the region achieve the Millennium Development Goals. It was important to effectively implement the Doha Declaration on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), particularly paragraph 4, which stated that the agreement did not prevent and must not prevent members from taking measures to protect public health.
Source: GA/11090