Guatemala Lacks Funds to
Fight AIDS
Guatemala - Twenty-four
years after the first
AIDS case was reported
in Guatemala, HIV
continues to spread due
to insufficient funds
for programs to prevent
and fight the disease,
experts said.
Although health
authorities have
reported 16,825 HIV
cases, other
institutions, including
the National Program on
the Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome,
claim that the number of
cases may exceed 66,000.
Maria Tallarico,
representative of the
Joint United Nations
Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
in Guatemala, said both
reports are
conservative, and called
on authorities to make
greater efforts to
collect more accurate
statistics.
Tallarico warned that if
the State does not
allocate more funds to
prevent the disease from
spreading, it will
become an epidemic.
In addition to
detection, educational
programs on prevention,
especially among youths,
who are the most
vulnerable sector, are
needed, she added.
In Guatemala, 94 percent
of HIV transmissions are
sexual, because people
are not aware of the
need for safe sex.
The most affected
departments, in addition
to the capital, are
those along the
so-called immigration
corridor, which includes
eastern Guatemala, the
Pacific coast and the
Mexican border.
However, a study carried
out this year among
1,000 pregnant women
detected 42 cases in
faraway regions, so the
disease has spread
nationwide.
Most programs to provide
care to HIV carriers or
full-blown AIDS patients
are carried out in urban
areas, thus the
difficulties to fight
the disease. |
