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HIV/AIDS Enters the Picture 85

also leave rural homes to take jobs in inner-city factories, only to fall victim to vio-
lent crime, exploitation, or illness.

HI V /A ID S EN TER S THE P I C TUR E

With the majority of the populace crowded into industrialized urban areas in less
than ideal circumstances, it is not surprising that air and water pollution are major
concerns, leading to a variety of health problems such as hepatitis A, typhoid fever,
and bacterial diarrhea. Many of the affected are children; almost 30% of Mexico’s
population is under 15, with about 700,000 more males than females. Overall,
however, life expectancies remain relatively high: 73 years for men and almost 79
years for women (U.S. Department of State, 2008).
Average life spans could drop, Mexican health officials fear, as the newest offspring
of poverty and ignorance—the AIDS epidemic—affects more and more vulnerable
populations. In many Latin American countries, the HIV epidemic is the main threat
to social sustainability, with recent reports showing the disease is increasingly affecting
the youngest and most productive populations as well as poor and marginalized
groups. Sadly, the 2007 national census revealed that half of new HIV/AIDS cases in
Mexico are occurring among those between 10 and 24 years old (Tizcareño, 2008).
Unless it is curbed, this trend bodes ill for the future and predicts additional diversion
of resources from other health, welfare, and education priorities. Mexico ranks 13th
globally and 3rd in the Americas in the total number of HIV cases reported, but the
increase has been continuous since 1981. With an estimated average of 4,000 new
cases annually, AIDS has become the fourth leading cause of death for Mexican men
aged 25 to 44 (WHO, PAHO, & UNAIDS, 2006, pp. 2–7).
AIDS has been reported in all 31 states of the Mexican Republic, with more
than half of the infected living in the Federal District. Although the epidemic is
largely concentrated among men who have sex with men, higher rates of HIV in-
fection are also being documented among injecting drug users and women. Of the
estimated 180,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Mexico, almost one-fourth are
women (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2008). Unfortunately, as male partners
infect more women, heterosexual transmission is on the rise and, in some parts of
the country, is now the predominant mode of transmission. Official estimates of
the adult prevalence rate are still relatively low, ranging from 0.3% to 0.4%, but the
disease is responsible for about 6,200 deaths a year (International HIV/AIDS
Alliance, 2008). Persuading the infected to seek testing and treatment is expensive
and difficult, so prevention is viewed as the superior social and financial choice.
Although Mexico has had HIV/AIDS programs since the early 1980s, only re-
cently has there been a more unified national response in recognition that the
disease has become a complex healthcare challenge, with psychological, social,