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But the more than five thousand persons living in Belize with HIV or Aids has solidified Belize’s position as the country in Central America with the highest prevalence rate. We are ranked fifth in the Caribbean. Belize’s 2.1 prevalence rate is the same as Ethiopia and Angola. Dr. Manzanero says his worry is that HIV positive Belizeans aren’t accessing the healthcare system until it’s too late.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero,
“Reason for alarm? I don’t think so. If you look at the pattern of what we have been reporting, since 2002 we have been having more than 400 new cases per year. The thing is the first time we have had more than 5,000 persons estimated to be living with HIV and Aids. It is a rough estimate, it could be more or it could be less. More because a lot of people don’t know their status and less because once we start eliminating all those people who are double counted across the country, since we are putting all our files electronically now, that number might come down.”

Keith Swift,
“In this quarter Stann Creek had double the…..”

Dr. Marvin Manzanero,
“The prevalence than Belize District has. That fluctuates because when you look at the total number of cases, that is what is most important because the prevalence rate is calculated among those who are tested. Because the numbers are not that many or that much, it may be misleading but Stann Creek still represents an area of concern for the entire national response.”

Keith Swift,
“When you factor in those people who haven’t been tested, do you think the number might be much greater?”

Dr. Marvin Manzanero,
“Probably not that much greater although some estimates that PAHO has for example in some countries that up to 40% of people who don’t know their status are walking about not knowing they are HIV positive.”

Keith Swift,
“So with a population of 300,000 and about 5,000 being infected, is that a rate considered high?”

Dr. Marvin Manzanero,
“Yes it is. If you do the math, for example neighbouring Mexico is 125 million people. If they had the same rate that we had, they would probably have 2.1 million cases and they are not anywhere close to that. And even a closer comparison, neighbouring Chetumal, the city has around 300,000 persons and they have under 500 cases and we have same population but ten times as much cases.”

Keith Swift,
“In the report it mentions that males don’t go and get tested until it’s too late. How big a problem is it?”

Dr. Marvin Manzanero,
“That is a big problem, not only for HIV but in general males don’t normally come in to contact with the health system until they are really having real signs and symptoms or when they have a disease that is probably well advanced.

The ones who show up with full blown Aids, we don’t really have much treatment options in this country. We people usually die within 18 to 30 months after having documented Aids. The other thing is if you are showing up with full blown Aids, it usually means you have had this infection for a good amount of years which means you could have potentially infected all the partners or partner you might have had in that period that you were HIV positive without knowing your status.”

Keith Swift,
“And that is probably the worst case scenario.”

Dr. Marvin Manzanero,
“It is and that is why we continue to launch campaigns, inviting people to come out and get tested early.”

So what will government do? Well Manzanero says they will continue to promote testing which is available at all healthcare clinics. One new initiative is to make an HIV routine, meaning that if you show up to the doctor with a flu – he might advise you to take an HIV test.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero,
“We are also moving towards offering HIV testing as a routine part of your medical care which means every time you come into contact with the health system, you should be offered an HIV test, regardless of what reason you came into contact with the health system. If you came into contact because you have the simple flu, you should be offered an HIV test.”

One more point of concern is tuberculosis. Dr. Manzanero says there has been a notable increase and that is linked to the rising incidents of HIV and Aids. Since the first known case in 1986, 906 Belizeans have died from an aids related illness. Most disturbingly, only 652 of the 5,000 confirmed HIV and Aids cases are receiving anti-retrovirals through the government run system.

Review the statistics at Ministry of Health.