At least between 3 and 4 Nicaraguans have been diagnosed with HIV every day during the first 3 months of this year. This number includes minors up to 15 years of age, as recognized by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (Minsa).
The Vice Minister of Minsa, Enrique Beteta, told the propagandist outlet El 19 Digital, that in the first quarter of this year 340 people with HIV were detected, “3.7 daily cases between the ages of 15 and 39, a young, economically active population that we need that they acquire knowledge about the subject,” said the Ortega official, adding that at the national level there are 6,800 people on antiretroviral treatment and an estimated 9,000 people with HIV.
Next May 18 marks the International Day of Solidarity towards people with HIV, and in this sense, the Ortega health institution claims to have launched a campaign to show solidarity with the Nicaraguans affected, however, activists who have worked in the The issue of the fight against HIV and the defense of the rights of infected people criticize that the regime does not really address this issue adequately.
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One of the issues criticized is that the Ortega-Murillo regime has ordered the closure and confiscation of the assets of many NGOs that worked to promote measures to prevent further HIV infection and also promoted the defense of the rights of infected people.
An activist for the rights of people with HIV, who asked to keep his identity confidential, pointed out that the prevalence of HIV in Nicaragua has the characteristics of a concentrated epidemic, mainly among the most vulnerable population such as young people at high risk, people of sexual diversity (LGBTIQ +), women sex workers and people in substance use and injectable users.
The activist appreciates that the shortage of prevention supplies, such as condoms and information materials on the correct use of these, contributes to the worsening of the problem. Another of the factors that worsen the situation of HIV prevalence in the country, according to the activist, is related to the closure of NGOs that worked on the issue, providing accompaniment, advice on discrimination, not only at work, doing rapid tests with pre- and post-counseling to the general population and key populations.
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The Minsa assures that so far this year they have carried out 33,000 HIV tests on pregnant women. Meanwhile, Beteta reported that in these tests they detected 25 women with the virus. In addition, the official assured that in 2007, when the dictator Ortega returned to power, there were 59 children with HIV in the country and this year 2023, in the first quarter “there are no children with HIV”, contradicting his statistics, since in the same report says they have detected HIV in 15-year-old children. In addition, the vice minister spoke about the data for this year, but did not mention records from previous years.
For the activist who spoke with Article 66In reality, the Government maintains an under-registration of cases. He added that the regime must understand that it is not only about diagnosing HIV and supplying some medicines “but receiving their treatment in a timely manner, respecting their right to reliability and without discrimination.”
