and obligatory public function.” This article of the Constitution also establishes that “[t]he implementation of the social security system corresponds to the Guatemalan Social Security Institute, which is an autonomous entity with legal personality, and its own assets and functions. The Organic Law of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute of October 30, 1946, created the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (hereinafter “IGSS”), as an autonomous institution with the mandate “to apply, for the benefit of the people of Guatemala, a national, standardized and obligatory social security regime, in keeping with the minimum protection system.” 43. On October 2, 1997, the Guatemalan Health Code was published (hereinafter “Health Code”). Article 4 of the Code establishes that the State “shall implement, through the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance and in coordination with state institutions, decentralized and autonomous entities, organized and private communities, health promotion, prevention, curative and rehabilitation actions, as well as the pertinent complementary actions, in order to ensure that Guatemalans may have the most complete physical, mental and social well-being.” To this end, the same article indicates that “the State, through the Ministry of Public Health and other public institutions, shall ensure that the provision of health services free of charge to all Guatemalans is guaranteed.” Regarding the allocation of resources and access to services, articles 21 and 55 of the Health Code stipulate the following: ARTICLE 21. ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES. The State shall allocate the necessary resources for the public funding of the provision of health services for the general public and, obligatorily and as a priority, for that segment whose social and economic development has been most neglected. ARTICLE 55. ACCESS TO SERVICES. The public and private establishments in the sector must provide patients with communicable diseases and their contacts, with access to an etiological diagnosis and health care in conditions that respect their personal integrity and the confidential nature of the case, without detriment to the provisions of article 54. 44. Regarding the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, article 62 of the Health Code establishes that the Ministry of Health is responsible for devising, evaluating and supervising actions aimed at the control of sexually transmitted diseases. The same article establishes that “[g]iven the magnitude, importance and epidemiological characteristics of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), the Ministry of Health shall support the specific implementation of STD and HIV/AIDS education, detection, prevention and control programs with the participation of different sectors.”29 Similarly, on June 2, 2000, Congress adopted Decree No. 27-2000, 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 relation to HIV/AIDS” (hereinafter also “General Law to combat HIV/AIDS”).30 45. The General Law to combat HIV/AIDS recognizes HIV/AIDS as an urgent national social problem. The law’s purpose was to create a legal framework to implement the necessary mechanisms for education, prevention, epidemiological surveillance, research, care and monitoring of sexually transmitted infections (hereinafter also “STI”), HIV and Cf. Decree 90-97 of October 2, 1997, Health Code of Guatemala, articles 1, 2, 4, 21, 55 and 62 (evidence file, folios 9850, 9851, 9856, 9864 and 9865). 29 Cf. Decree 27-2000 of June 2, 2000, 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 relation to HIV/AIDS (evidence file, folios 9914-9928). 30 14