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A BACKWARD BILL WHICH VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS
Disregarding all the demands and warnings pointed out by several organizations, Panama’s National Assembly passed Bill N° 518, which establishes a legal framework for comprehensive care for people with sexually transmitted infections and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Panama.
As organizations belonging to Panama’s Unified Civil Society Working in the Field of HIV, during the last four years we have been submitting remarks and proposals regarding the aforementioned bill, which have finally been completely ignored. For this reason, we hereby demand the Nation’s President, Mr. Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez, not to pass this backward bill which, far from improving the situation of people living with HIV and key populations, is going to promote more stigma and discrimination, and, that way, it is clearly going to violate human rights.
We repudiate the fact that deputies have turned a deaf ear to the demands of civil society, particularly regarding the voluntary nature of HIV testing, as it happens with Article 7.3, which establishes an informed consent exemption, and Article 8, which establishes the test as a requirement for civil marriage.
Only representatives of the PROBIDSIDA Foundation (Foundation for the Well-being and Dignity of People Living with HIV/AIDS) have been invited to participate in the last debates on this matter, an institution with a clear economic benefit in this setting, as it offers STI and HIV diagnostic tests, including what they call a “marriage package.”
We hereby urge President Varela Rodríguez to listen to the demands we make from multiple organizations, as our goal is to promote compliance with international pacts and agreements, and prevent the rights of Panamanians from being affected due to economic interests and false morality, which could lead to stigma, discrimination and ignorance.
Panama, April 20th, 2018