Tijuana Tourism Is Held Hostage by an AIDS Epidemic Wills Robinson - Daily Mail
go to original December 27, 2015

HIV/SIDA: Epidemic in Tijuana (University of California Television)

It has been a beloved tourist spot for more than a century and is one of the fastest growing cities in Northern America. But as Tijuana thrives, so does a problem caused by many of the vices drawing thousands of visitors south of the border with Mexico every year.

An AIDS epidemic is developing because of rampant prostitution, unprotected sex and drug addiction.

Reyna Ortiz holds a syringe in her mouth before injecting heroin on the border between the US and Mexico. She is one of the highest risk groups for HIV: a female who injected drugs and had regular unprotected sex with a male addict who was also injecting. (Malcom Linton)

The epidemic is concentrated in groups like men who have sex with men, transgenders, and people who inject drugs or sell sex.

According to a 2006 study as many as one in every 125 men and women between the ages of 15 and 49 may be infected with HIV. And this doesn't include the children who are diagnosed with the virus because of their parents.

The problem has transformed some parts of the city and has sparked a rise in facilities being opened to treat the patients.

Sergio Borrego, who helps run Tijuana AIDS hospice, puts a net over the face of Pedro Robles, 51, to prevent flies bothering him as he dies of AIDS. Pedro arrived at Las Memorias with full-blown AIDS six days earlier but because of bureaucratic delays in the medical system he received no medification. (Malcom Linton)

In their book, Tomorrow Is a Long Time, photographer Malcolm Linton and writer Jon Cohen have captured haunting images and stories from Tijuana to show the distance that separates aspiration from reality, alongside the grip AIDS has taken on some residents.

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