Dust Storms

For me, last week was rough. Every gust of wind seems to raise a dust cloud, and already with a cold, I was an easy victim for laryngitis, flu symptoms, and so forth. I was not able to teach my part of our classes so Lynn talked more than usual. However, early in the week I met with two representatives of pastoral care for penitentiaries at the Archbishop's Office. I am still trying to complete certificates of participation for the inmates in our English courses at Abra. With the certificates, Lynn and I hope they qualify for some reduction of their sentences. I also asked about the inmate with HIV who was refused treatment at a local hospital.  From our discussion I understood the following about the inmate's dilemma:

·      Doctors are obligated to treat patients, including those that are HIV-positive;

·      The inmate was initially treated and advised that he should first wait to see if his broken bone would set satisfactorily after being repositioned and splinted;

·      He returned to the hospital the following day and requested the operation to set the bone using metal screws and a plate;

·      Pending this operation, he was admitted to the hospital and placed in a ward for [HIV?]-infected patients;

·      In Bolivia it is the patient's responsibility to purchase in advance the materials that will be used in the operation, and apparently the patient was aware of this;

·      At the scheduled time for the operation the patient did not have the necessary materials ready, for which the operation did not proceed.

·      The doctor did not refuse to treat the patient because the patient was HIV-positive.

I have no reason to doubt this version of events, in which case the Abra protesters' support for their fellow inmate misrepresented the doctor's reasons for acting as he did. In one newspaper account Celima Torricoa, the Government Secretary for Human Development, said that the incident would be investigated thoroughly. From those findings I hope to verify that the doctor did not refuse to provide treatment and the inmate was not refused treatment because he happened to be HIV-positive.

I regret having left a false impression for a week but the combination of my illness and our having lost internet access during all of that time (just restored an hour ago) made it difficult until now to post an update.