Latin America is expected to significantly reduce the spread of tuberculosis by 2015.

Not all news about health in Latin America is good news. HIV/AIDS, for example, is a problem. Between 2002 and 2004, the number of people infected with HIV increased significantly—200,000 people contracted the virus during this two year time period alone.

Nearly one-third of AIDS patients in Latin America who need anti-retroviral drugs (drugs that help people live long lives even if they are infected with HIV) are not receiving them. Poverty is the primary reason for this shortcoming, because the drugs are expensive. In efforts to curb the spread and suffering of HIV/AIDS, organizations and individuals are demanding less expensive drugs as well as more prevention-based education programs.

Fact File

Latin America has an estimated two million people living with HIV/AIDS, with a combined 30,000 people infected in Nicaragua and Ecuador. 150 people die of tuberculosis (TB) in Latin America every day.

AIDS and TB not only affect those living with the disease, but also those caring for them. When parents have AIDS, TB or both, they are unable to work to support their families. Children, and especially girls, take on the responsibility of earning money, looking after siblings and caring for their sick parents. Worse still, TB is very contagious, often infecting the caretakers of TB patients.

Malaria is widespread across the Amazon Basin and lower-laying areas of countries such as Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In Ecuador this year, between 1,000 and 3,000 people will die of malaria. That malaria claims so many lives is especially tragic because it is both preventable and treatable. Something as simple as a mosquito net can save lives, but poverty means millions cannot afford even this.