Release: AHF & AFABI to Open New, Free AIDS Clinic in Tijuana
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051028/laf055.html?.v=23
October 28, 2005
US' Largest AIDS Group Joins Forces and Partners With Respected Local Mexican NGO to Extend HIV/AIDS Medical Care and Access to Life-saving
Anti-retroviral Treatment in Tijuana
TIJUANA, Mexico and LOS ANGELES, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest AIDS organization in the US which operates free
AIDS treatment clinics in the US, Africa, Central America and Asia, including twelve clinics throughout California; and Agencia Familiar Binacional,
A.C. (AFABI), a respected, local Mexican non-governmental organization (NGO), have joined forces and partnered together in a new, free AIDS clinic in
Tijuana -- Mexico's first community-based comprehensive HIV/AIDS clinic -- which will provide medical care and life-saving antiretroviral treatment to
people living with HIV/AIDS in the region.
The clinic, AHF's first in Mexico, will be dedicated with a ribbon-cutting and gala opening celebration this Friday, October 28th at 3:00pm, and will
be known as the AHF Inmunidad Global HIV Clinic. The clinic is located on Avenida Rio Tijuana No. 2725 Col. Revolucion Tijuana, B.C. Among those
participating in the grand opening ceremony Friday will be Dr. Jorge A Saavedra Lopez, Director General de CENSIDA (the national office of AIDS for
Mexico); Dr. Francisco Vera Gonzalez, Director General de ISESALUD (equivalent to the Minister of Health for the State of Baja); entertainer Alejandro
Lopez, a principal benefactor of the clinic; Juan Olmeda Perez, President, AFABI Board of Directors; and Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS
Healthcare Foundation.
"In keeping with our mission to provide medical care and advocacy to those in need, AHF is pleased to partner with AFABI in this new, free AIDS
treatment facility and to be able to bring HIV/AIDS medical care and anti-retroviral treatment to the community in Tijuana," said Michael Weinstein,
President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "We are deeply honored to have Drs. Saavedra Lopez' and Vera Gozalez' support for this undertaking, and are
happy they can join us as we celebrate the opening of this new clinic. As AHF has reached across the globe providing treatment, we are mindful that we
cannot neglect our own neighbors in Mexico. It is particularly important to us to say that we don't accept the tale of two cities where a person with
AIDS in San Diego may have whatever they need and the same person in Mexico is not even receiving basic life-saving treatment."
"The only way to eradicate HIV/AIDS in the near future is by working in collaboration and this magnificent project is proof of it," said Juan Olmeda
Perez, President of AFABI. "Thank you everyone, on both sides of the US- Mexico Border who helped make this wonderful dream come true for Tijuana,
Baja California."
"Around the world, border communities present unique challenges to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts, and Tijuana, Mexico is no exception,"
said Jessie Gruttaduaria, AHF's Associate Director for Government Affairs/California, who has worked closely over the past year with AFABI
representatives and Mexican government officials on the clinic partnership. "Because this city serves as an entry point to both the U.S. and Mexico,
its residents -- including a large population of migrant workers who travel regularly across the border -- are often a people on the move. Reaching
this largely hidden community is one obstacle to effective prevention and treatment efforts in Tijuana. It is our hope and belief that this new AHF
Inmunidad Global HIV Clinic will improve access to HIV prevention and testing services, medical care and anti-retroviral therapy for these and others
in need of care and services."
A recent study of migrant workers by government researchers in California and Mexico showed that as many as 1% of workers -- or 20,000 people -- are
HIV-positive, a rate three times as high as the general population in both Mexico and the U.S. Most migrant workers have limited access to mainstream
healthcare systems in either country -- another barrier to accessing HIV testing and treatment services.
Mexico's social security institutions offer free HIV/AIDS care; however, those individuals not covered by social security or without access to the
state's FONSIDA (Mexican National Fund for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS) program often face difficulties in accessing both testing services and
life-saving anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). It is expected that this new AIDS treatment clinic in Tijuana will likely serve as a safety net for care and
services for some of those not eligible for care elsewhere in Mexico or the US' healthcare systems.
30 patients are already being treated at the AHF Inmunidad Global HIV Clinic in Tijuana. AHF plans to bring up to 100 patients onto life-saving
anti-retroviral treatment by the end of the year at the site.
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