It is estimated that some 10,000 people in Costa Rica are carriers of HIV, a virus that despite decades of its appearance has continued to spread fear.
With 204 cases per every 100 thousand inhabitants, Costa Rica is the country where there are fewer HIV carriers compared to Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Panama. This is revealed by the regional data from GSK multinational.
Meanwhile, data from the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) states that between 600 and 700 people receive a positive diagnosis every year. Even more sadly, between 40% and 50% of them have already developed the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a stage in which the virus destroys the immune system.
The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that new HIV infections declined 35% in the last 15 years. AIDS-related deaths fell by 24% in the same period.
For WHO, one of the reasons for the drop was the application of antiretroviral treatments to all people with HIV.