According to a recent medical study in the British medical journal The Lancet, 74 nations including Mexico, have seen an increase in the number of new HIV cases.

CCTV America’s Franc Contreras reported from Mexico.

Condesa Clinic is a Mexico City government-sponsored health center that offers free HIV testing to low-income patients. In 2015, this clinic diagnosed 3,500 new cases of HIV.

Blood tests are analyzed at the clinic’s lab, so that technicians can search for damage to white blood cells, which regulate the body’s immune system.

Based on a 2011 global study, the clinic is focusing its resources on viral suppression with patients as a means of controlling the epidemic.

A top official at Condesa Clinic, Steven Diaz, estimated that 40000 to 50000 people in Mexico City are living with HIV and don’t even know it.

“We want to detect the person, test the person for HIV, if the person is HIV, quickly treat the person so the virus can go down to undetected levels and in that way not only improve the quality of life of that person but also prevent future infections since that person can no long transmit the infection,” Diaz said.

Once diagnosed, HIV patients in Mexico City will get free medications to prevent the virus from replicating in the body.

Another non-governmental organization in the Mexican capital, Casa de Sal, also provides assistance to HIV/AIDS patients.

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Dr. William Schaffner on HIV clinical trial

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