Guatemala to both patients and medical personnel. Also, access to this publication or
booklet should be provided through civil society organizations that work in this area.
229. Fourth, as a way of contributing to non-repetition of facts such as those of this case,
the Court finds it appropriate to order the State to conduct a national awareness-raising
campaign addressed at people living with HIV, public officials, and the general public, on the
rights of people living with HIV, on the obligations that the authorities have to provide care
to them, and about the need to respect people living with this condition. This campaign
must be aimed at combating the stigma and lack of information about the causes of HIV and
the consequences for the health of people living with HIV. In addition, the campaign must
have a gender perspective and be comprehensible for the whole population.
230. The State must report every year, for three years, on the progress made on the
above guarantees of non-repetition (supra paras. 225 to 229). The Court will assess this
information when monitoring compliance with the judgment and will rule in this regard.
C. Compensation
C.1. Pecuniary damage
C.1.1. Arguments of the Commission and the parties
231. The Commission asked the Court to order the State to make full reparation to the
surviving victims and to their next of kin and loved ones, including the pecuniary aspects.
232. The representatives asked that, when ordering the payment of pecuniary damages,
the Court take into account: (i) the time that has elapsed since the victims were diagnosed,
and (ii) that most of them are in a precarious financial situation, so that the expenses they
incurred signified an important financial outlay 253 and that, in some cases, the victims had
to go into debt to be able to pay them and, in others, they were unable to access treatment
because they did not have the necessary resources. Furthermore, they alleged that the
women who had children at that time incurred in the additional expense of having to buy
formula milk so that their babies would not become infected, because this was not provided
or was insufficient to ensure the alimentation of the newborns. Lastly, the representatives
indicated that, due to the passage of time, the victims do not have vouchers for the said
expenses; they therefore asked the Court to determine, in equity, the amount
corresponding to pecuniary damage that should be given to each of them.
233. The State indicated that, regarding reparation for pecuniary damage, it would
submit a proposal based on an actuarial study. However, this was not submitted to the
Court.
C.1.2. Considerations of the Court
234. In its case law, the Court has developed the criteria that pecuniary damage supposes
“the loss or detriment to the income of the victims, the expenses incurred based on the
In this regard, the representatives alleged that, owing to the lack of comprehensive health care for the
victims, they have had to assume extra financial expenses. In particular, the representatives indicated that they
had to buy the inputs required to perform CD4 counts and viral load and genotype testing, or to purchase some of
the drugs needed for their treatment, and at least seven of the victims had to pay for their own treatment of the
HIV/AIDS related diseases with which they became infected. They also indicated that, owing to the distance of the
health care centers from the victims’ homes, at least 20 of them incurred transport expenses (merits file, folio
740).
253
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