BRIEFS. health

Government ups aids spending

LA PRENSA

prevention:UN officials say that the government needs to do more to educate people on how to prevent the spread of AIDS.1069410

Though government spending on AIDS prevention measures will top $24 million this year, the disease continues to be a problem in the country.

The government invested $86 million in combating AIDS between 2000 and 2007. And spending has increased over the last two years, reaching $23.7 million last year and an estimated $24 million this year.

Ministra de Salud Rosario Turner said the state has added funding for more medicines and the construction of free clinics aimed at increasing the number of people tested for the disease. Panama is one of the few countries in the region that has instituted a program to test pregnant women for HIV.

The number of deaths caused by the disease has remained relatively constant over the past several years. In 2005, 447 people died of the disease. In 2006, that number was 471. Panama has the fourth-highest AIDS rate in the region.

Ernesto Guerrero, coordinator of the UN AIDS program for Panama and Mexico, recognized the government's efforts to combat the disease, but said that “more needs to be done.”

“Panama is one of the few countries that invests funds to combat AIDS. The treatment that patients receive is good,” he said, adding that more should be done to educate the public about preventing the spread of the disease.