AIDS Healthcare Foundation has opened a new healthcare center and pharmacy in Carolina, Puerto Rico. This new state-of-the-art location comes at an essential time for Puerto Rico’s citizens. HIV/AIDS care and services in Puerto Rico have suffered due to COVID-19 and the residual effects of 2017’s Hurricane Maria.
However, even before COVID-19 and Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico’s citizens were at increased risk for HIV. “While Hurricane Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic have complicated the landscape for Puerto Ricans living with HIV/AIDS, patients were at risk long before Maria due to several factors including a lack of resources to effectively combat the epidemic as well as the island’s debt crisis,” said Silvana Erbstein, AHF Regional Director- Miami-Dade & Puerto Rico.
According to the CDC, Puerto Rico is one of the top ten states/territories with the highest number of cumulative AIDS cases and HIV prevalence in the US. The new AHF Healthcare Center and AHF Pharmacy in Carolina, Puerto Rico, is a promising step toward better HIV care in Puerto Rico.