In recent days, a person reported that the Mexican airline Volaris denied him the transfer of a family member’s body, who died of HIV.
The complainant assured that the remains were transferred by means of a funeral home to Volaris Carga Guadalajara, to be taken to Mexicali, Baja California. However, he was later informed that the company’s policies did not allow the body of someone who died of an infectious-contagious disease to get on the plane.
“We had to proceed to request the necessary changes in the documentation to be able to move the remains by land,” he explained.
According to a SDP news release, the case was made public by “Impulse,” an association dedicated to combat the HIV stigma, noting that ignorance about the disease led to an act of discrimination.
The association argues that this refusal on the part of Volaris put in risk the mental health and the economy of the family, but above all, the dignified treatment before the death of a human being was impeded.
“These types of events reflect the misinformation that exists on the part of airline personnel about a disease such as HIV / AIDS and its transmission, promoting the stigma that still exists around this condition,” Impulse said.
In view of this, they decided to urge Volaris and other airlines to train their employees about the danger of real transmission of people living with HIV, as well as to distribute the “Human Rights Primer for people living with HIV / AIDS” and the Mexican standard: NOM-010-SSA2-2010.
In addition, a call was made to the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Conopred) and the National Human Rights Commission to take action on the matter and implement the necessary measures to ensure non-discrimination for people living with HIV / AIDS.
TMP Newsroom
