Mi Vida con el VIHSIDA: Daniel - My Life with HIV/AIDS: Daniel

Daniel tells about his first encounter with HIV when, after a free HIV test, he was given a positive diagnosis without any type of counselling. He speaks about the lack of information and his lack of knowledge about the disease at that time and about the discrimination he faced because he was a foreigner. He relates how this discrimination occurs and where: in healthcare centres (at times, they did not want to provide attention to people who are living with HIV); within families (people are outcast to die alone and anonymous); in the big corporations (people are fired from their jobs); and in schools (testing is obligatory in order to attend). According to Daniel, in some regards, HIV represented more of a social death than a physical one.

The film promotes the point that getting tested is vital: It is important to get the results quickly because this can improve positive people's living conditions, support them to take care of their health, and change risky behaviours. As shown in the film, HIV has given Daniel "the opportunity to live more intensely, enjoying each experience as it if might be for the last time."

Daniel’s testimony is part of the My Life with HIV/AIDS, a communication project created and produced by COMPRATEL, Comunicadores Sociales (Social Communicators), and financed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)/Bolivia. The objective of the project is to raise awareness among the population about the HIV/AIDS pandemic and to demand respect for the rights that assist people infected and affected by the pandemic. This 6-chapter mini-series attempts to reflect the reality of HIV/AIDS in Bolivia, a reality marked by stigma, discrimination, and infringement on the rights of infected and affected people and the people themselves. The series also seeks to socialise the Ministerial Resolution # 0711 for the Attention to and Prevention of HIV/AIDS and to motivate pregnant women and young people between the ages of 18-25 to take part in quick testing to detect HIV antibodies.

The series includes 5 chapters of testimonies named after the person living with HIV/AIDS who gave their story to contribute to the visibility of the AIDS reality in Bolivia: Daniel Ruiz, Julio César Aguilera, Roberto Parra, Juan Carlos Quipildor, and Violeta Ross. "One more day" in the life of these people was filmed in different locations in Bolivia: Santa Cruz, Oruro, and Cochabamba. They told their stories and uncovered a reality that is marked by intolerance, discrimination, and rejection to and of the people who are living with HIV/AIDS in Bolivia.

The sixth is a special, 30-minute chapter with the title "Today I Will Get Tested." It was produced with the goal of accompanying a 21-year-old woman (Nidia) as she goes for HIV testing with the process that this entails: the decision; the pre-counselling;  the test itself;  the post-test counselling; and the results. The point of this chapter was to motivate other young people to learn about the status of their health with regards to HIV/AIDS through quick testing. Assistance in the filming of this piece was received from the Departmental Programme of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI - ITS)/VIH-SIDA (HIV/AIDS) and the laboratory at the Cochabamba Technical School for Health.

Click here for the second part of this video in Spanish.