AEGiS-AP: As many as 260,000 Mexicans are living with HIV

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

As many as 260,000 Mexicans are living with HIV

Associated Press - November 24, 2004

MEXICO CITY (AP) - As many as 260,000 Mexicans have the HIV virus, but the official number of cases remains far lower because thousands of those infected don't know they have it, the country's top HIV-AIDS expert said Wednesday.

Jorge Saavedra, director of the National Center for the Prevention of AIDS, said the estimated number of Mexicans with the virus was between 78,000 and 260,000, explaining that the reason for the wide variation was many people "don't know, others don't want to know and some know but only in a confidential manner."

Speaking at the conclusion of an HIV-AIDS conference in Mexico's capital, Saavedra said the country has officially tallied 90,043 cases of AIDS. Some 14,606 of AIDS patients are women, meaning that 85 percent of Mexican cases are men, he said.

In nine out of every 10 Mexican cases, patients who contract the disease through sexual contact, Saavedra said. His comments came a day after the presentation of a U.N. report estimating that 36 percent of people living with HIV in Latin America are women.

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