While Latin America has come a long way in the fight against AIDS, there are still major challenges, particularly when it comes to access to skilled health workers, says IntraHealth International’s Yadira Villaseñor in Investing in Latin America and the Caribbean, a supplement to the March 29, 2013, issue of USA Today.

Villaseñor served as an expert source in the article titled “Positive Action,” where she explained that cultural barriers can make it difficult to prevent HIV from spreading. “In many Central American countries,” she says, “it is taboo to talk about sex.” As a result, unprotected sex is all too common.

That taboo—combined with the fact that many who need high-quality HIV care are often unable to get it from skilled health workers—means that the United Nations may not achieve one of its 2015 goals in Central America: to stop and reverse the spread of HIV and to achieve universal access to treatment.

Villaseñor and her colleagues at IntraHealth’s Central America Capacity Project are working to improve the quality of HIV care in many Central American health facilities and to make care more accessible to those who need it. They’re also working to reduce the stigma that surrounds people living with HIV.

Villaseñor is Chief of Party for IntraHealth’s Central America Capacity Project, which is funded by the US Agency for International Development.

More information:

• Investing in Latin America and the Caribbean (online version)
• Investing in Latin America and the Caribbean (PDF of the full report, including IntraHealth’s ad on page 2)
• The Central America Capacity Project
• In Costa Rica, Strengthening Health Systems Has a Human Side
• IntraHealth in Central America