Hernán Goyo asked the regional authorities to find a feasible solution so that HIV patients can receive their treatments.

According to unofficial figures by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working in the state of Zulia, around 9,300 patients with HIV are unable to continue their antiretroviral treatments due to the lack of fuel, cash, and the scarcity of public buses during the Coronavirus quarantine, as reported by Hernán Goyo, member of Un Nuevo Tiempo (A New Time, UNT) and spokesman for the Sexodiverse group in the region.

“We see with concern how the influx of patients picking up their treatment decreases each day. At least a thousand people every quarter make an effort to reach the health centers and pick up the treatment they need to stay alive, but that number has alarmingly dropped during the quarantine because of the restriction to personal transit,” he said.

Goyo pointed out that due to the fuel restrictions during the quarantine in the country, hundreds of patients try to refuel without success at the only station providing service to the health sector in the city of Maracaibo.

“We are suffering from a large humanitarian crisis, HIV patients in Zulia are living a nightmare due to the high costs of medications, many of them turn to public health services because they do not have the economic means to pay for their treatments. Without antibiotics, antifungals, and multivitamins their lives are in danger,” he said.

He indicated that in the case of patients in the municipalities of the state the situation is more complex because public transportation is out of service and only one service station operates in each municipality prioritizing law enforcement vehicles, civilians authorities, and in some cases merchants.

The coordinator of the UNT Sexodiverse group in the state of Zulia, Hernám Goyo, asked the regional authorities to find a feasible solution so that HIV patients can receive their treatments.

“We ask the authorities of the security forces in the state of Zulia to cooperate as much as possible with HIV patients. It is not just about them, we know of hundreds of kidney and cancer patients who stand in long lines in subhuman conditions under the harsh sun, and in some cases, only a few lucky ones manage to load 20 liters of gasoline. The patients need to continue their treatments to save their lives, their rights are being violated. Politics cannot prevail over health, it is a human right that must be respected and enforced,” he said.