Protease inhibitors are not a priority in the immediate scheme of things. If she can wake up, take care of the kids, and go to work, then she's healthy. Garcia's remarks are supported by a recent survey showing that Latina women are less likely than either white or African-American women to have had a gynecological exam in the last year, two years, or ever. It's no surprise that cervical-cancer rates among Latinas are almost double those of the population at large. Cervical cancer is a common and sometimes fatal opportunistic infection in HIV-positive women.
Women defer treatment longer and are offered treatment much later in the course of their disease.
Prioritizing their own health comes very late if it comes at all. Developing a Family Model Looking at the big picture, Garcia says HIV educators must look more comprehensively at treatment issues and develop family models with integrated services that also address the needs of women. If we're really going to be effective, we should not separate those issues. On a grassroots level, treatment educators are pushing for HIV education materials in Spanish and encouraging frank discussions of sexuality to break the traditional walls of silence. Among Latinos with HIV, an estimated six percent are immigrants who face additional hurdles in accessing care.