Source: https://www.infobae.com/america/mexi...iruela-simica- in Mexico/
Cases of monkeypox in Mexico are on the rise between discrimination and taboo
Mexico City registers the highest incidence rate at the national level with 1,601 confirmed cases, Jalisco with 301 cases and Edomex with 272.
November 4, 2022
The lack of information about the disease, the few ways to diagnose it, the ignorance; In addition to a condition of rejection and discriminatory treatment by health personnel, problems for the treatment of monkeypox in our country increase.
In a health system that is usually stigmatizing and discriminatory towards people from the LGBTTTI community, monkeypox infections have increased the division, in addition to a lack of protocols to attend to cases and a lack of vaccines to combat them.
Even activists have expressed indignation at the singling out of sexual practices and sexual orientation when they have smallpox, since they claim that the entire stigma of HIV is being repeated, as it was since the early 1980s.
According to a publication by Emeequis, an activist denounced that "there is absolutely no strategy on the part of the State, nor of the Ministry of Health, of the IMSS, or of the ISSSTE of attention" and that is that he recounted his experience when going to the IMSS to be treated after suspecting that he had contracted the disease.
"Honey, don't worry, it's chickenpox, you'll see that it will soon go away." It was the answer given by an IMSS nurse when taking her signs. She asked him to uncover his extremities to measure his blood pressure. It was at that moment that around 20 red papules were exposed on his left arm, revealing the contagion of monkeypox.
The nurse was silent so as not to alarm the others who were waiting for an appointment. She held his arm wearing plastic gloves and made him wait longer than usual to go in for inspection. The stigma of contagion was there. The activist reported that when he entered the office the doctor was waiting for him who, when questioned about her sexual orientation, she released a “see” accompanied by a grimace, when he replied that he was homosexual.
That was the testimony of one of hundreds of people who have probably already been through the same situation, patients who are stigmatized because of their sexual orientation. Until September of this year, the figures indicated that of the registered cases, 98% correspond to men and 2% to women; However, in the court on October 24, the Ministry of Health reported that throughout the country there was a record of 2,654 confirmed cases in the 32 entities of the country, and another 377 cases under study.
According to official information, the distribution of infections is concentrated mainly in Mexico City with 1,601 confirmed cases with the highest incidence rate at the national level, followed by Jalisco with 301 cases; 272 in the State of Mexico and 93 in Yucatan. However, it is a disease that, since the first contagion registered in July, has expanded to have a presence throughout the country.
To the above, it represents an increase of 56.3% in consideration with the cases detected at the beginning of October, when 1,968 confirmed cases were reported, 3,564 notified cases and 446 cases under study.
In Mexico, despite keeping a record of possible and confirmed cases, the Ministry of Health has refused the arrival of the vaccine, as well as the implementation of massive doses in the most affected population, as commented by the activist "It is a completely homophobic decision not to want to acquire vaccines, because this epidemic is concentrated in men who have sex with other men like HIV”, he stated.
A few weeks ago, through an online call, the LGBT+ community invited them to join the protest at the offices of the National Center for Preventive Programs and Disease Control (CENAPRECE) in order to vaccinate the population against monkeypox.
With the cry “Vaccine yes, smallpox no”, the director of VIHiveLibre, Alaín Pinzón demands urgent vaccination rights because today people have not been inoculated against this disease.
Cases of monkeypox in Mexico are on the rise between discrimination and taboo
Mexico City registers the highest incidence rate at the national level with 1,601 confirmed cases, Jalisco with 301 cases and Edomex with 272.
November 4, 2022
The lack of information about the disease, the few ways to diagnose it, the ignorance; In addition to a condition of rejection and discriminatory treatment by health personnel, problems for the treatment of monkeypox in our country increase.
In a health system that is usually stigmatizing and discriminatory towards people from the LGBTTTI community, monkeypox infections have increased the division, in addition to a lack of protocols to attend to cases and a lack of vaccines to combat them.
Even activists have expressed indignation at the singling out of sexual practices and sexual orientation when they have smallpox, since they claim that the entire stigma of HIV is being repeated, as it was since the early 1980s.
According to a publication by Emeequis, an activist denounced that "there is absolutely no strategy on the part of the State, nor of the Ministry of Health, of the IMSS, or of the ISSSTE of attention" and that is that he recounted his experience when going to the IMSS to be treated after suspecting that he had contracted the disease.
"Honey, don't worry, it's chickenpox, you'll see that it will soon go away." It was the answer given by an IMSS nurse when taking her signs. She asked him to uncover his extremities to measure his blood pressure. It was at that moment that around 20 red papules were exposed on his left arm, revealing the contagion of monkeypox.
The nurse was silent so as not to alarm the others who were waiting for an appointment. She held his arm wearing plastic gloves and made him wait longer than usual to go in for inspection. The stigma of contagion was there. The activist reported that when he entered the office the doctor was waiting for him who, when questioned about her sexual orientation, she released a “see” accompanied by a grimace, when he replied that he was homosexual.
That was the testimony of one of hundreds of people who have probably already been through the same situation, patients who are stigmatized because of their sexual orientation. Until September of this year, the figures indicated that of the registered cases, 98% correspond to men and 2% to women; However, in the court on October 24, the Ministry of Health reported that throughout the country there was a record of 2,654 confirmed cases in the 32 entities of the country, and another 377 cases under study.
According to official information, the distribution of infections is concentrated mainly in Mexico City with 1,601 confirmed cases with the highest incidence rate at the national level, followed by Jalisco with 301 cases; 272 in the State of Mexico and 93 in Yucatan. However, it is a disease that, since the first contagion registered in July, has expanded to have a presence throughout the country.
To the above, it represents an increase of 56.3% in consideration with the cases detected at the beginning of October, when 1,968 confirmed cases were reported, 3,564 notified cases and 446 cases under study.
In Mexico, despite keeping a record of possible and confirmed cases, the Ministry of Health has refused the arrival of the vaccine, as well as the implementation of massive doses in the most affected population, as commented by the activist "It is a completely homophobic decision not to want to acquire vaccines, because this epidemic is concentrated in men who have sex with other men like HIV”, he stated.
A few weeks ago, through an online call, the LGBT+ community invited them to join the protest at the offices of the National Center for Preventive Programs and Disease Control (CENAPRECE) in order to vaccinate the population against monkeypox.
With the cry “Vaccine yes, smallpox no”, the director of VIHiveLibre, Alaín Pinzón demands urgent vaccination rights because today people have not been inoculated against this disease.
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