OPINION: Ignorance and fanaticism block sex-ed

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a major threat to the health of Panamanians. According to the Joint United Nations Program for HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS), Panama had a small reduction in the number of new infections between 2010 and 2018, falling from 1,400 new infected to 1,300. According to the report, the group that had the greatest reduction was that of men older than 15 years. However, the country would have been able to do much more and improve its indicators, if a sexual and reproductive health education plan had been implemented.

The double standards, distastefulness and even religious fanaticism caused the country to have a lost decade in terms of sexual and reproductive health, since both at the level of the National Assembly and the Ministry of Education, the obscurantism campaigned defeating two initiatives to educate our young people.

 The number of infected people is just an initial indicator that must be followed with great care, because it is very easy for the trend to be reversed if there is not  greater medical-sanitary control, if the preventive tools are overcrowded and if a negligent  attitude persists. Although AIDS is not a death sentence, it requires medical attention and a constant supply of drugs. It is not fair to continue losing the quality of life of young people because of ignorance and fanaticism.