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The spread of HIV as a serious element of the migration crisis in Latin America – whether Venezuelans forced to emigrate to get drugs or Central American migrants unaware that they carry the virus – will be at the center of the global AIDS conference that will open in Mexico City on Sunday.
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Some 6,000 scientists, doctors, activists and government officials need to learn about the latest treatments and research and discuss the human and social costs of AIDS and HIV.
Currently, there is no program that focuses on HIV-positive migrants in Latin America, said Brenda Crabtree, a Mexican doctor and AIDS specialist, who is co-chair of the conference.
Before the conference, the organizers took the participants early to a clinic in Iztapalapa, one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Mexico City.
The Condesa Clinic welcomes patients from all countries without inquiring about their legal status and provides free care.
While some parts of the Mexican public health system require that a patient's papers be in order, the Condesa Clinic wants to be a "sanctuary" for migrants, Crabtree said.
In Venezuela, some 120,000 people are living with HIV / AIDS and need antiretroviral drugs, but nearly 80,000 are unable to afford these drugs, she added.
About one out of every four foreign patients in Condesa is Venezuelan; 16% are Colombian; and another 16% come from Central American countries, said clinic director Florentino Badial.
There is also a growing number of Haitians and Cubans.
Most Venezuelans and Colombians have arrived legally in Mexico in search of work; most Central Americans are undocumented.
Americans in Central America, generally less educated, "are afraid," said Luis Manuel Arellano, an employee of the clinic. "But we treat them as any Mexican."
When a caravan brought thousands of migrants to Mexico in November, the clinic offered a free trial and detected six undetected HIV cases, which were then treated.
"Migrants are not abandoned," said Arellano. "We take care of their health."
Carlos Gamez, a 32-year-old Cuban, arrived in Mexico in 2017 after being diagnosed with HIV. He was able to find drugs at the clinic.
"If I had to pay, it would not have been possible," he said.
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