SIDA in Colombia / AIDS in Colombia

ABSTRACT

The first AIDS in Colombia was diagnosed in 1983. Starting the next year Colombia made AIDS a notifiable disease, instituted compulsory screening of blood donors nationwide, and undertook serologic studies on the prevalence of HIV infection. Between January 1984 and December 1987, 178 AIDS cases were reported to the Ministry of Health. Their location, with limited numbers of cases coming from most major cities, suggests that the human immonodeficiency virus (HIV) is widely distributed in Colombia. Most of those afflicted have been homosexuals, though limited heterosexual transmission to prostitutes has also accurred. Regarding HIV-1 antibodies, the highest seroprevalences (5.6 percent in females, 22.5 percent in males) were found among high risk individuals who participated in a free AIDS testing program. High prevalences (0.6 and 3.9 in females, 14.6 and 15.9 percent in males) were also found in patients (primarily females prostitutes and male homosexuals) attending sexually transmitted disease clinics in several urban areas and in Bogoa, respectively. Lesser seroprevalences (5 percent in male homosexuals and 0 percent in female prostitutes, health service employee, and prisioners) were found by a survey in the moderate-sized eastern city of Villavicencio. Overall, it appears that the number of AIDS cases in Colombia has doubled or tripled each year since reporting began in 1984, a pattern