2024-04-07 07:28:58
José Fley has HIV so controlled that it is untransmittable; Carmen has overcome breast cancer and Íñigo, shaken by a stroke, has been able to overcome it without consequences. Adolfo can say that he is free of the hepatitis C virus, while Ana has had to look depression in the face in order to stop it. Five patients who offer us their stories of overcoming these diseases on World Health Day.
Carmen, Adolfo, Ana, Iñigo and José Fley, five stories of overcoming illnesses on World Health Day. EFE/María Abad
Medicine has been evolving at the same time as these five people who represent the overcoming or control of diseases as prevalent as cancer, cerebrovascular diseases or mental health diseases, but also of others where therapeutic advances make it possible to contain previously fatal infections.
World Health Day, April 7, serves to highlight the great steps of Medicine but also to vindicate the right to health of millions of people.
World Health Organization (OMS) has chosen this year the motto “My health, my right” to emphasize that, despite the fact that at least 140 countries recognize health as a right in their constitutions, at least 4.5 billion people (half of the world’s population) ) were not covered by essential health services in 2021.
A right, according to the organization, “increasingly threatened” by war conflicts “that devastate lives and cause death, pain, hunger and psychological distress,” but also by disasters, diseases and climate change.
José Fley Báez (HIV), Carmen Fernández (breast cancer), Íñigo Uriarte (stroke), Ana Gumiel (depression) and Adolfo García (hepatitis C) had access to health services and that is why they can now tell their stories of overcoming and control of their diseases that we summarize in this video.
Video EFE/Gregorio del Rosario
“I will not die with HIV”
José Fley Báez is 32 years old. At 24 he was told that he had HIV. He celebrates that, medically, the virus “is almost overcome” – the only thing missing is a cure, he adds – but he regrets that socially there has not been much progress, the impact of stigma still prevails.
At the time of diagnosis, his doctor reassured him that with current treatments he can live and, furthermore, with a very good quality of life. However, many things went through her mind, such as feelings of guilt, social questioning or “the movie Philadelphia.” A whole story of improvement.
“Breast cancer has not stopped me”
Carmen Fernández, 69, was diagnosed with breast cancer six months after finishing her working life, when her future was full of plans: “Breast cancer has not stopped me, only the long year of treatment and operations , I continue doing what I wanted to do in my retirement.”
She is one of more than 80% of breast cancer patients who survive five years after diagnosis, one of the tumors with the highest survival rate. Nine years later, she tells of her path to overcoming one of the diseases that has benefited from innovations in therapies and early detection.
“The Stroke Code saved my life”
Íñigo Uriarte, 46, suffered a stroke in November 2022 and spent six days in the Intensive Care Unit. A year and a half later he has no after-effects and leads a practically normal life. He claims that the speed with which the Stroke Code was applied saved his life.
Now he has the stroke under control and considers it over, although he is very aware of what has happened and the risks it may pose. Íñigo sends a message to other affected people: “You don’t have to justify your victimhood. You have to trust in healthcare and doctors, and trust that, once the trauma has passed, you can only improve, see yourself with optimism and change your habits and styles.” of life”.
“Don’t think that depression will last a lifetime”
Ana Gumiel, 66, started having depression almost 30 years ago, but since 2010 she has been avoiding it. “Now I am stabilized and in fact I have absolutely no fear,” she says.
“Depression can be chronic or not, or it can just be a stage. Don’t think that it will be like this all your life, but even in the chronic stages you can be stable,” says Ana in a message to others affected by this illness. mental health, and advises them to “take care of friendships, stay away from negative people and think about all their worth,” in addition to highlighting emotional and psychological support.
“The new hepatitis C treatments were the salvation”
When Adolfo García was told that he had a virus that was neither hepatitis A nor B, he was overcome with a feeling of confusion. It was the early 1970s. It was not until the late 1980s when they gave it a name: hepatitis C. Thanks to access to new treatments, he is free of the disease.
Adolfo remembers overcoming his pathology and what his life was like before public health began to finance new antivirals. Also how he demanded, along with many other patients, that these medications, which had a high economic cost, reach everyone who needed them.
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