The headlines from today’s El Caribe tell the sad story of HIV patients living in the Dominican Republic. According to Alicia Ortega, there have been 32,000 deaths from HIV-related illnesses since the onset of the AIDS crisis. The Epidemic Vigilance Department of the Public Health Ministry estimates that by 2005 there will be 78,000 deaths attributable to AIDS. The results of the Health Census of 2002 show that 1% of the population studied of reproductive age are infected with HIV. Government estimates say that as many as 2.4% of the population are infected at this time. Maria Isabel Tavares, in charge of the unit that supervises HIV-positive and AIDS patients, told reporters that by 2005 there will be 141,000 people living with the disease. According to the technician, sexual contact is the primary of cause of transmission. Over the past three years, the government has started a program to prevent the vertical transmission of the disease, using modern medicines to prevent expectant mothers from transmitting the disease to their children. Over 1,500 children have been born to HIV-positive mothers without becoming infected themselves. Nevertheless, according to medical authorities, many more are born with the disease, either through ignorance or injustice, and there are approximately 5,000 cases of children under the age of five who live with HIV. Dr. Luis Montalvo, the director of Copresida, the people at highest risk are those who work in the sex trade, free zone employees, military personnel and those who work the “bateyes” or sugar fields. Montalvo says the increasing Haitian population is particularly worrisome because of the high incidence of the disease in that country.