From: rastern@sol.racsa.co.cr
Date: Sat, 25 Jan 1997 14:14:03 -0600 (CST)
Subject: No AIDS MEDS in Costa Rica

 NO MEDICATIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH AIDS IN COSTA RICA



A group of  25 Costa Rican HIV+ people and people with AIDS have been
directly told by Dr.
Julieta Rodriguez, Assistant Director of the Caja Costarricense de Seguros
Sociales (the
government Health provider,)  that there is virtually no hope for Costa
Rican patients to receive
anto-retroviral medications or protease inhibitors.

The meeting was held in the offices of the "Caja" in downtown San Jos=E9 on
Wednesday January
22nd.   In Costa Rica, all health service is nationalized, and all employees
must contribute to the
system.  Costa Rica is one of  few Latin countries providing universal
health care.  Dr. Rodriguez
explained that there is no money in the budget for these medications. She
said that the there are
many groups that would like to receive money for their medical needs which
is not available. She
also claimed that there is no evidence that these new medications provide a
cure for AIDS, therefore the investment would be very expensive, with no
results guaranteed.

Members of the group attending the meeting represent various other
organizations of people
affected by AIDS.  In the last few weeks the group has been meeting to plan
a strategy to
confront the fact the government here has never given any retroviral
medications to AIDS
patients. =20

"Since we started meeting  three weeks ago, two members of  our group have
died, " said
Antonio, a spokesperson for the group. "But the authorities here don=B4t=
 care.
We are young
productive members of this society who have contributed to this system as
workers during many
years. But they won=B4t give us anything.  It is horrible situation."

Said Richard Stern, Health Coordinator for the gay/lesbian group "Triangulo
Rosa," based in
Costa Rica:    "This is a terrible tragedy.  Drug companies are charging
prices that are absolutely
unreacheable for 98 percent of the population of a country like Costa Rica.
Because of their fear
of an avalanche of people seeking these medications, the government, instead
of pursuing  a
course of openness and compromise,  has retreated to a hard-line position
against helping these
people. These are young, educated men and women who are facing the horrible
truth that there
lives could be saved by access to these medications, but there is no money
to pay for it, and
nobody in a position of  authority seems to care."

"We would like help from the drug companies and from the international
community to save the
lives of our Costa Rican brothers and sisters, gay and straight, but we
don=B4t even know how or
where to begin." he added.