violating the obligation to ensure the right to health pursuant to Article 26 of the American
Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of this instrument, of the 49 people named as victims
in Annex 2 to this judgment.
120. The Court will now analyze whether the medical treatment received after 2004 was
adequate according to the standards established for the right to health.
B.4.2. Analysis of the medical treatment received by the presumed
victims after 2004
121. First, in this case, the Court recalls that medical treatment for people living with HIV
requires the availability of sufficient quantities of antiretroviral drugs and other
pharmaceutical products for the treatment of opportunistic infections. In this regard, the
evidence reveals that 31 of the presumed victims had irregular, inadequate or non-existent
access to antiretroviral drugs provided by the State. The Court therefore notes the
following: (i) some presumed victims had no access to antiretroviral drugs, either for a
prolonged period between the first HIV diagnosis and the start of treatment or because the
treatment was insufficient once they obtained access to it;136 (ii) in other cases, the patients
suffered from shortages or lack of consistency in the supply of their medication;137 (iii)
lastly, in the case of some presumed victims, therapeutical problems were detected because
they developed resistance to the antiretroviral treatment or it was shown that they required
a change in their treatment program and this was not provided.138 Regarding the other
presumed victims, the Court has insufficient information to determine their situation with
regard to the antiretroviral treatment.
122. Second, the Court recalls that the State obligation to ensure the right to health of
people living with HIV calls for the performance of diagnostic testing to treat the infection
and the opportunistic diseases, and that this is essential for prescribing the appropriate
antiretroviral treatment. Also, the lack of periodic testing engenders a risk that the patient
will receive inadequate treatment or that the virus will develop resistance to the
antiretroviral drugs, increasing the risk of opportunistic infections. In the instant case, the
Court notes that 39 of the presumed victims did not have access to periodic CD4 counts
viral load, phenotype and genotype testing and, in some cases, the patients had undergone
no tests whatsoever.139 Specifically, the Court notes that in some cases, CD4 counts and/or
viral load tests had not been performed; 140 in other cases, the presumed victims had not
The following persons fall into this category: José Cupertino Ramírez, Sebastián Emilio Dueñas, Julia
Aguilar, Luis Rubén Isabel Alvarez Flores, Saira Elisa Barrios, Felix de Jesús Cabrera Morales, César Noé Cancinos
Gómez, Aracely Cinto, Luis Rolando Cuscul Pivaral, María Felipe Pérez, Mardo Luis Hernández and Hernández, Luis
Armando Linares Ruano, Darinel López Montes de Oca, Audencio Rodas Rodríguez, Zoila Marina Pérez Ruíz,
Santiago Francisco Valdéz Aguilar, Karen Judith Samayoa Vásquez, Francisco Sop Quiej, Miguel Lucas Vaíl, Sandra
Lisbeth Zepeda Herrera, Petrona López Robledo, Juana Aguilar, Ismerai Olibia García Castañon, Dora Marina
Martínez Sofoifa, Teresa Magdalena Ramírez Castro and Iris Carolina Vicente Baullas.
136
137
The following persons fall into this category: Guadalupe Herminia Cayaxon García, Juana Aguilar, Felix de
Jesús Cabrera Morales, César Noé Cancinos Gómez, Pascuala de Jesús Mérida Rodríguez, Dora Marina Martínez
Sofoifa, Sandra Lisbeth Zepeda Herrera, Luis Armando Linares Ruano, Marta Alicia Maldonado Paz, Zoila Marina
Pérez Ruíz, Miguel Lucas Vaíl and Silvia Mirtala Alvarez Villatoro.
The following persons fall into this category: José Rubén Delgado López, Guadalupe Herminia Cayaxon
García and Silvia Mirtala Alvarez Villatoro.
138
The following persons fall into this category: Rita Mariana Dubón Orozco and Petrona López Robledo, who
never had access to any type of medical testing and are now deceased.
139
The following persons fall into this category: Elsa Miriam Estrada Ruiz and Sebastián Emilio Dueñas, who
have never undergone CD4 and/or viral load testing.
140
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