Subject: Guatemala: First Steps to Battle Aids

From: Bj|rn Skolander <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 1995 05:59:56 +0200 (MSZ)

Government Takes First Steps to Battle AIDS
 
Guatemala City, August 8.  Congress has named a committee to prioritize 
the battle against AIDS in Guatemala.  The first case of AIDS was
identified a decade ago but until now no government policy has been
established to combat the syndrome, legislators said.
 
"First we will declare as a matter of national urgency, information and
education for the prevention of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),"
said legislator Rafael Barrios Flores, who added the committee would work
with educators, nongovernmental organizations, the State Public Relations
Office, and the Defense and Interior Ministries to inform the nation
about AIDS prevention.
 
As of December 1994, 1,446 known cases of AIDS existed in Guatemala and
of these, 229 people had died from the syndrome, according to the
Regional AIDS Program of the World Health Organization.  The Guatemalan
Health Ministry predicts 40 to 80 thousand cases by the year 2000.
 
SOURCE: CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS!

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