After 10 years of being assisted and trained in HIV care by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Costa Rica is finally ready to fly with its own wings.
The agency helped strengthen the knowledge on issues such as adherence, biosafety, stigma and discrimination, health dignified, positive prevention, human rights, counseling and testing, gender and sexual diversity.
But this is a never-ending task. For it to be sustainable, the country must continue with its own means. The government announced seven commitments on the matter, explained by Lizbeth Barrantes, HIV adviser of the Vice-President.
However, by 2014, Costa Rica’s HIV figures were still rising. The Dirección de Vigilancia de la Salud reported 7,344 people with HIV, mostly men.