Noticias

Homophobia is a public health problem; Its consequences in the population are evident in different areas. This affirmation, supported by the WHO based on studies around the globe, call for an action plan and a stronger commitment from all of the member states of the UN.
Relationships between same gender people are illegal in 86 countries, in seven of which they carry penalty of death. And, in many places of the world like in Paraguay, even though they are not penalized, they imply social punishment. Situations of persecution create unfavorable conditions to the health of LGBT people. "Not only it is unethical not to protect these groups; it makes no sense from a health perspective. It hurts all of us" declared Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations.
Homophobia impacts in the forgotten aspect of the Integral Health: Mental Health. The high morbidity in non-heterosexual people in the field of Mental Health, is a key fact that speaks on the unmeasured aspect of homophobia in our country. SOMOSGAY emphasizes the importance to start to generate scientific data, in order to give an effective answer in this area.
Social conditions are created through Homophobia that make the impact of HIV to be in a larger scale among gay males. Studies have demonstrated that the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in our group is around 10% higher than in the general public, regardless of the high amount of people that are unaware of their serological status. In the case of the trans population, percentages are even higher. Despite these numbers, in our country statistics show that the Public Health Services and the Prevention Programs of the virus only reach out to less than a third of the homosexual population.
The approach of SOMOSGAY to the Ministry of Public Health, is due to the interest in seeing the increment of the commitment and resources that are destined to homosexual and transgender persons in the Public Health Policies of the Paraguayan government.
SOMOSGAY poses that the plans and interventions of health based on a vision to confront a disease, instead of preventing it, have to be changed. Furthermore, the organization considers that the preventive medicine and the focus in the stages of life, declared in the platform elected of the Patriotic Alliance for the Change, is a paradigm that needs to be implemented with a better emphasis.
SOMOSGAY makes a call to the Paraguayan government, represented in this case by Dr. Esperanza Martinez, to own the principal objectives of the plan impulses by the United Nations. These objectives are:

1. Better the legal situation and the rights of homosexuals and transexuals;
2. Strengthen and promote the programs in HIV in this groups
3. Promote arrangements that assure the response more efficient to us, the LGBT citizens.