GUANTANAMO (Cuba), Dec 4 (NNN-ACN) — An extensive program of activities with a preventive approach to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) was successfully developed in health units and neighborhoods in transformation of the easternmost province of Guantanamo, with the active participation of citizens and members of the Cuban network of people living with these diseases.
The day included joint instructive actions to commemorate this Dec 1 the World Day of Action against Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS), under the slogan “Let the communities lead” and called Cultivate Consciousness, which took place in the vulnerable community La Caoba and the emblematic neighborhood of Loma del Chivo, both in the provincial capital.
At the Antonia Luisa Cabal Concert Hall, the Esperanza Awards will be presented by the specialists of the Support Line for Sick People, said Aracelis Martin Tellez, Biology graduate, provincial responsible for the educational component on STIs, HIV-AIDS and Hepatitis B and C.
In Guantanamo, World AIDS Day is commemorated with positive results in the care program and, the most important of them, is the sustainability in the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis and HIV, a success materialized in Cuba since 2015.
More than 900 people in this territory currently live with HIV and the incidence of diagnosed cases in 2023 is slightly higher than the previous year, a reality that can be transformed with increased screening and strict compliance with specific drug treatments indicated by physicians to HIV-positive people, without disregarding the use of condoms.
World AIDS Day was first celebrated on a global scale in 1988 and, since then, the virus has killed more than 25 million people worldwide, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in history. — NNN-ACN
