So Why Are You In Bolivia, Exactly?

Honestly, it has a lot to do with keeping track of people.

I had an old friend from college who has been living in La Paz since she moved away from San Francisco in 2002 or 2003 (cannot remember). So Bolivia was one of the places I looked for a project in early January. My project is looking at the acceptability of the HPV vaccine (otherwise known as the cervical cancer vaccine) among Bolivian women.

Essentially, I’m curious whether they have any objection to vaccinating girls 10-13 for a virus which is sexually transmitted. There are many factors which could be important in acceptance of the vaccine, including religion, sexual habits, education and age. So far, in the incredibly biased group of people who come into the clinic of the Bolivian Foundation Against Cancer, the vaccine has received overwhelming support. There has been a recent Rubella vaccination campaign by PAHO and USAID, and I think that women who use health services in La Paz are inundated with positive vaccine message. This makes the topic of my project far less interesting, but is hopeful for the introduction of a low-cost HPV vaccine in Bolivia (do you hear me MERCK?)

So that is what I am doing here. I’m talking to women in clinics here in La Paz. I had an incredibly good day today. After weeks of disappointments regarding permission to work in two hospitals, today I was introduced to a friendly resident and a helpful chief of gynecology in El Hospital de La Mujer (which caters to mostly lower income women). I’m supposed to go in tomorrow, and things are looking up, at least for the moment.This does not resolve the issue of the Bolivian Chef and his live-in girlfriend, but it generally puts me in a more positive mood.