World Bank fears HIV/AIDS epidemic coming
From http://www.amcostarica.com
Sexually transmitted HIV and AIDS are threatening to run out of control in Central America where four of the six Latin American countries with the highest rate of infection are located, according to the World Bank.
To stem the likely epidemic more investment is required in prevention programs, the World Bank said.
Infection in Central America comes from heterosexual liaisons, particularly with high-risk groups, such as prostitutes, said the World Bank. In general the countries here have been spared the full-blown epidemics of African nationals and of the Caribbean islands.
The World Bank released a study that says that Belize, Honduras, Panamá, and Guatemala are four of the six countries with the highest HIV prevalence in all of Latin America as of end-2001.
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HIV transmission in Central America is primarily due to heterosexual sex. . . .
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"The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Central America is increasingly serious, and although the epidemic continues to be concentrated in high risk populations, it is becoming generalized in some countries," said Jane Armitage, the World Bank's director for Central America. "Fortunately, we are still on time. Prevention is the key."
According to the document titled "HIV/AIDS in Central America: An Overview of the Epidemic and Priorities for Prevention," HIV adult prevalence seems to be highest in Belize (2 percent), followed by Honduras (1.6 percent), Panama (1.5 percent), Guatemala (1 percent), El Salvador (0.6 percent), Costa Rica (0.6 percent), and Nicaragua (0.2 percent), based on U.N. estimates.
HIV transmission in Central America is primarily due to heterosexual sex, which is more similar to the Caribbean than the South American pattern, and although there are more men than women with AIDS in Central America, the gender gap is closing, according to the report.
The epidemic is generally concentrated in high-risk populations such as men who have sex with men, commercial sex workers, prisoners, the Garifuna (an Afro-Caribbean population group) in the case of Honduras, street children and the security forces, the report said. However, the World Bank makes it clear that there are significant exceptions: the disease is becoming generalized in some areas of Belize.
As for El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama, the projections indicate that if the current pattern continues the epidemic could reach adult prevalence levels of close to 2 percent in those countries in seven years.
"Some countries have active policies to combat and prevent the disease, such as free condom distribution to high-risk groups," said Helena Ribe, the World Bank's sector leader for human development in Central America. "But these initiatives must be improved and expanded, and government spending needs to focus more on prevention activities."
A substantial impact on the epidemic can be achieved even with limited resources, provided these are channeled to the most cost-effective interventions, the World Bank said.
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Infection rates of men who have sex with other men were as high as 17.7 per cent
in El Salvador . . . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In order to prevent between 10 percent and 20 percent of new infections, countries must invest at least U.S. $1 million each year in highly cost-effective prevention activities," said Helen Saxenian, the World Bank's lead economist for health in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In Central America this minimum prevention package should include free condom distribution to high-risk groups, condom social marketing, information, education and communication for high-risk groups, and counseling and access to rapid testing, said the report.
In 2000, total public and private financing allocated to public health and HIV prevention activities was $6 million in Honduras, $800,000 in Panama and $2.8 million in Guatemala.
According to the study, the prevalence of HIV among Latin American 15-to-49-year-olds is at 0.5 percent throughout the region. Some 130,000 adults and children were newly infected with HIV during 2001, and 80,000 died. But under-reporting is so common that researchers calculate that Latin America is likely to have 30 percent more cases of AIDS and 40 percent more cases of HIV than existing statistics show.
A public health study of prostitutes in Central America showed a HIV rate of 10.4 percent in Honduras followed by four other Central American nations. A study of sex workers in Costa Rica has not yet been completed.
Homosexual behavior accounts for a significant amount of HIV transmission and is particularly important in Costa Rica, said the report. Infection rates of men who have sex with other men were as high as 17.7 per cent in El Salvador, said the study, noting:
"Sex Workers are at high risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV. Their clients frequently do not use condoms, and sex workers often do not insist on their use, either because they underestimate the risk of infection, do not have access to condoms, or earn more money by providing unprotected sex. Clients of commercial sex workers act as a bridge between high-risk groups and the general population."
HIV means infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. AIDS means an individual has contracted acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
Surinam and Guyana are the two other countries ranked in the top six with the highest HIV prevalence in all of Latin America as of end-2001.
From http://www.amcostarica.com
Sexually transmitted HIV and AIDS are threatening to run out of control in Central America where four of the six Latin American countries with the highest rate of infection are located, according to the World Bank.
To stem the likely epidemic more investment is required in prevention programs, the World Bank said.
Infection in Central America comes from heterosexual liaisons, particularly with high-risk groups, such as prostitutes, said the World Bank. In general the countries here have been spared the full-blown epidemics of African nationals and of the Caribbean islands.
The World Bank released a study that says that Belize, Honduras, Panamá, and Guatemala are four of the six countries with the highest HIV prevalence in all of Latin America as of end-2001.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HIV transmission in Central America is primarily due to heterosexual sex. . . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Central America is increasingly serious, and although the epidemic continues to be concentrated in high risk populations, it is becoming generalized in some countries," said Jane Armitage, the World Bank's director for Central America. "Fortunately, we are still on time. Prevention is the key."
According to the document titled "HIV/AIDS in Central America: An Overview of the Epidemic and Priorities for Prevention," HIV adult prevalence seems to be highest in Belize (2 percent), followed by Honduras (1.6 percent), Panama (1.5 percent), Guatemala (1 percent), El Salvador (0.6 percent), Costa Rica (0.6 percent), and Nicaragua (0.2 percent), based on U.N. estimates.
HIV transmission in Central America is primarily due to heterosexual sex, which is more similar to the Caribbean than the South American pattern, and although there are more men than women with AIDS in Central America, the gender gap is closing, according to the report.
The epidemic is generally concentrated in high-risk populations such as men who have sex with men, commercial sex workers, prisoners, the Garifuna (an Afro-Caribbean population group) in the case of Honduras, street children and the security forces, the report said. However, the World Bank makes it clear that there are significant exceptions: the disease is becoming generalized in some areas of Belize.
As for El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama, the projections indicate that if the current pattern continues the epidemic could reach adult prevalence levels of close to 2 percent in those countries in seven years.
"Some countries have active policies to combat and prevent the disease, such as free condom distribution to high-risk groups," said Helena Ribe, the World Bank's sector leader for human development in Central America. "But these initiatives must be improved and expanded, and government spending needs to focus more on prevention activities."
A substantial impact on the epidemic can be achieved even with limited resources, provided these are channeled to the most cost-effective interventions, the World Bank said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Infection rates of men who have sex with other men were as high as 17.7 per cent
in El Salvador . . . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In order to prevent between 10 percent and 20 percent of new infections, countries must invest at least U.S. $1 million each year in highly cost-effective prevention activities," said Helen Saxenian, the World Bank's lead economist for health in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In Central America this minimum prevention package should include free condom distribution to high-risk groups, condom social marketing, information, education and communication for high-risk groups, and counseling and access to rapid testing, said the report.
In 2000, total public and private financing allocated to public health and HIV prevention activities was $6 million in Honduras, $800,000 in Panama and $2.8 million in Guatemala.
According to the study, the prevalence of HIV among Latin American 15-to-49-year-olds is at 0.5 percent throughout the region. Some 130,000 adults and children were newly infected with HIV during 2001, and 80,000 died. But under-reporting is so common that researchers calculate that Latin America is likely to have 30 percent more cases of AIDS and 40 percent more cases of HIV than existing statistics show.
A public health study of prostitutes in Central America showed a HIV rate of 10.4 percent in Honduras followed by four other Central American nations. A study of sex workers in Costa Rica has not yet been completed.
Homosexual behavior accounts for a significant amount of HIV transmission and is particularly important in Costa Rica, said the report. Infection rates of men who have sex with other men were as high as 17.7 per cent in El Salvador, said the study, noting:
"Sex Workers are at high risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV. Their clients frequently do not use condoms, and sex workers often do not insist on their use, either because they underestimate the risk of infection, do not have access to condoms, or earn more money by providing unprotected sex. Clients of commercial sex workers act as a bridge between high-risk groups and the general population."
HIV means infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. AIDS means an individual has contracted acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
Surinam and Guyana are the two other countries ranked in the top six with the highest HIV prevalence in all of Latin America as of end-2001.
