62. As explained by the petitioners, the alleged victims were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS from 1992 to 2003. The State did not refute this information. 63. The petitioners submitted general and specific information about the situation of the alleged victims. As for the general circumstances that apply to all or several of the alleged victims, which were not refuted by the State, the following points can be cited: - Many of the alleged victims are unemployed, low-income persons, who do not live in Guatemala City. Several of the alleged victims are the head of household and have several children. Also, several family members and loved ones of the alleged victims also have HIV/AIDS. Despite requesting medical care from public health care facilities, including access to antiretroviral drugs, they did not receive any state assistance until 2006 and 2007, which impacted their health. As of said date, most of the alleged victims received some type of medical care from international organizations. 64. According to the petitioners, in 2002, the Ministry of Health only provided antiretroviral medicine to less than 1% of the population with HIV/AIDS in Guatemala. In this regard, in June 2002, then Minister of Health Mario Bolaños declared that “lack of resources is the reason why the Ministry of Health can only cover 27 persons living with HIV/AIDs.”12 The petitioners alleged and the State did not refute that none of these 27 persons mentioned by the Minister at the time was an alleged victim in the case. 65. The Commission notes that, according to the World Health Organization, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a disease that attacks the cells of the immune system, impairing or destroying this function. The term acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is used to refer to the most advanced stages of HIV infection and is marked by the presence of some opportunistic infection or HIVrelated cancer.13 With regard to treatment of persons with HIV/AIDS, the World Health Organization has emphasized viral load and CD4 cell count testing in order to assess immune function, administer the appropriate antiretroviral drugs, evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment and treat and prevent the appearance of drug resistance.14 66. Hereunder, the Commission provides a listing of the names and available information about each alleged victim, starting with the eight deceased persons and then listing the living persons. 2.1 Information about the deceased alleged victims 67. The petitioners claimed that as a result of the failure of the State to provide medical care, eight of the alleged victims passed away:  Alberto Quiché Cuxeva, died on January 4, 2001. The petitioners noted that he died of pneumonia and that no timely CD4 cell count and viral load testing had been performed on him. The State did not refute the petitioners’ allegations and did not provide any documentary support to indicate that he received any medical care prior to his death.  Facundo Gómez Reyes, died on February 27, 2003. The petitioners noted that he died of tuberculosis and that no viral load, CD4 cell count, and genotypic and phenotypic testing had been conducted on him. They further contended that there was a ten-month window for him to have been treated, but that because of the failure to treat him he deteriorated greatly as 12 Annex 1. Press story: ‘Fighting for more lives’ [“En lucha por más vida”] published in Prensa Libre on June 14, 2002. Annex to petitioners’ communication of August 26, 2003. 13 For more information, see: http://www.unaids.org/es 14 WHO, Draft Global Health Sector Strategy on HIV for 2016-2021. Available at: http://www.who.int/hiv/strategy20162021/GHSS_HIV_SP_06012016.pdf?ua=1 12