Precautionary Measures 7. On 26 August, 2003, the petitioners lodged a request for precautionary measures on behalf of the presumed victims together with a complaint, which was registered in the IACHR as file No. 642. On October 3, 2003, the Commission asked for additional information regarding some of the petitioners and their state of health. On October 9, 2003 the petitioners advised the Commission that given the victims’ whereabouts, they would need time to gather such information. On April 13, 2004 the information requested was presented to the Commission, except for certain tests like the determination of viral load which were deemed too expensive. On April 21, 2004, the Commission advised the State of its decision to grant the precautionary measures requested on behalf of the 39 persons named since they had not been dispensed appropriate medication by the Guatemalan public health system. III. A. POSITION OF THE PARTIES The Petitioners The Facts 8. The presumed victims are carriers of HIV/AIDS. On November 23, 2001, they went, together with others infected with the same virus and organizations such as the Association for the Coordination of the Fight Against AIDS (Asociación Coordinadora de Lucha contra el SIDA), the Association for Comprehensive Health (la Asociación de Salud Integral), and the Foundation (la Fundación,) to the Ministry of Health as the entity responsible for dispensing their health care to request the provision of a comprehensive health plan for persons living with HIV. They did so pursuant to the General Law on the Fight Against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, and the Promotion, Protection, and Defense of Human Rights of Persons with HIV/AIDS, Decree 27-2000. The petition affirms that the foregoing organizations received no response from the Ministry of Health. The Ministry did issue a public statement announcing that it lacked the financial resources needed to fulfill the legal mandate ordering it to extend health services to persons living with HIV/AIDS. 9. In light of the Ministry of Health’s negative response, on May 27, 2002, the nongovernmental organizations working on the issue of HIV/AIDS together with persons living with the disease, addressed a letter to Mr. Alfonso Portillo, President of Guatemala, requesting that he 3