AIDS, as well as to guarantee the respect, promotion, protection and defense of the human rights of those suffering from such infections. Thus, article 35 established that any person diagnosed with HIV/AIDS must receive immediate comprehensive care, in the same conditions as others, respecting their wishes, dignity, individuality and confidentiality; and that no health worker may refuse to provide the care required by a person living with HIV/AIDS, and should take the recommended biosafety measures. Regarding the provision of health services, article 48 of the General Law to combat HIV/AIDS stipulates: The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance shall provide health care services to people living with HIV/AIDS that ensure them counselling, support and the most recent medical treatment, individually or in group. This care may be provided in the home or as an outpatient and shall be designed to respond to their physical psychological and social needs. Also, through the Program for the Accessibility of Medicines (PROAM), the Ministry of Public Finance and Economy shall implement a program that allows access to quality antiretroviral drugs at the national and international level, at a cost accessible to people living with HIV/AIDS. 46. On September 6, 2002, the President of Guatemala ratified the “Regulations to the General Law to Combat the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and for the Promotion, Protection and Defense of Human Rights in the presence of HIV/AIDS” (hereinafter also “Regulations to the General Law to combat HIV/AIDS”), which reiterated that HIV/AIDS was an urgent national problem and that the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (hereinafter also “Ministry of Public Health”) should ensure that all its health units had the necessary basic equipment and inputs to provide quality comprehensive care and that a lack of equipment or inputs could never be used as an excuse not to provide care to a person with HIV/AIDS.31 Regarding access to medication, article 32 of the Regulations established: Pursuant to articles 35 and 48 of the Law, the MINISTRY OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE shall provide, in units that have the minimum capacity, quality comprehensive care, including access to antiretroviral drugs in keeping with the national protocols to treat HIV/AIDS. […] To obtain a better quality and price for antiretroviral drugs, a committee shall be established coordinated by the NATIONAL AIDS PROGRAM with delegates from the Ministries of Public Finance and of Economy, and from the Program for the Accessibility of Medicines (PROAM) for the purposes of purchases on the domestic and international markets […]. The Program for the Accessibility of Medicines (PROAM) may distribute the antiretroviral drugs to affiliated pharmacies that have qualified pharmaceuticalchemical staff, under the responsibility and supervision of a treating physician who must provide the corresponding prescription for the drugs to be supplied. The Program referred to in this paragraph does not conduct direct individual sales. 47. Regarding the allocation of funds, article 35 of the Regulations to the General Law to Combat HIV/AIDS established that the Ministry of Public Health would transfer the funds allocated to the exclusive use and implementation of the strategies and actions established in the Law to the National AIDS Program, which would promote their decentralized use at the level of health regions, health districts, and the community. It also established that the Ministry of Public Finance would allocate and include the specific financial envelope in the State’s General Income and Expenditure Budget so that the National AIDS Program could Cf. Government Decree No. 317-2002 of September 6, 2002, Regulations to the General Law to Combat the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and for the Promotion, Protection and Defense of Human Rights in the presence of HIV/AIDS, article 31 (evidence file, folio 9938). 31 15