Delegates at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, Mexico on Monday. (Photo: International AIDS Society)

MEXICO CITY, Mexico - An HIV-discrimination reporting system, expected to be given national recognition when it is put before Parliament this year, should see more persons filing complaints if they believe they have been victims of discrimination.

The Discrimination Complaint and Redress Reporting System, which falls under the ambit of the Ministry of Health's National HIV/STI programme, is being implemented by Jamaica's Network of People Living with HIV (JN+), who will be submitting a brief to Parliament when it reconvenes next month for Government to grant it national recognition.

On Monday, delegates at a session of the International AIDS Society (IAS) XVII International Conference here, were told that at least 20 lawyers have already committed to representing persons discriminated against, free of charge.

Anthony Hron, advocacy officer for JN+, said the brief is currently being reviewed for submission to Parliament. He said once it receives national recognition, they will be able to begin promoting it on a wider scale so more persons can begin reporting incidents.

With this reporting system, anyone who believes he is a victim of HIV-related mistreatment, abuse or discrimination can lodge a formal complaint.

"We would like to see more cases prosecuted, but we haven't gotten that far yet," he said, adding that they received 36 reports last year and expect the figure to increase when the new system is implemented.

The majority of the complaints, he said, have been against pharmacists and health care providers. He said although the programme - which is funded by the Global Fund - has been underway officially since 2006, JN+ will have more clout when Government recognises it as a national programme. As such, the National HIV/STI programme is in the process of hiring a top-level Advocacy lawyer to push the process through Parliament.

"Not everyone know of this system now to come and seek redress, but when it is (recognised) we can begin to promote it," Hron said.

Explaining how the programme works, Hron said persons can submit their complaint electronically, through a hard copy report form or on the telephone. Trained JN+ staff will assist with taking the complaints and logging it into a highly confidential database.

Following this, he said, data that do not identify personal information about the complainant will be shared with the monitoring and evaluation unit at the Ministry of Health and other monitoring agencies.

At the end of the investigation, a desired course of action will be established.

According to Hron, data gathered through this reporting system will also be beneficial in providing information on the areas to focus funding and intervention programmes.
The group will also keep a keen eye on the media to ensure that they do not publish or broadcast sensitive information.

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