In spite of the Covid-19 outbreak, Cuba is nearly approaching to the 90-90-90 goal adopted by ONUSIDA, which stated that as of 2020, the 90% of the people living with HIV would be aware of their diagnostic, the 90% of them would have been receiving treatment and the 90% of the under-treatment patients would be living with an undetectable viral load.

In that sense, Dr. Manuel Romero Placeres, Head of the STD, HIV and Hepatitis Department of the Ministry of Public Health claimed that: ¨In this moment we have already achieved the first 90% , getting closer to the second one, which means that all HIV-diagnosed patients have access to antiretroviral treatment, and we are hardly working to achieve, by the end of this December, the third 90% that reads this way: a high percentage of patients with antiretroviral treatment get to a high percentage of individuals with undetectable viral load.

Under the slogan ¨ To end up inequities, AIDS and pandemics¨, the Worldwide Day in response against HIV was celebrated this December 1st.  In accordance with the commemoration the specialist presented the virtual conference ¨National Response to AIDS: challenges and results in the context of Covid-19 pandemic¨ where he ratified Cuba´s commitment to eradicate HIV-AIDS as a health issue.

According to Romero Placeres, up to 2020, 36.7 million people were living with HIV worldwide, among them 29 000 were living in Cuba.

He also explained that in Cuba, since the 80´s, a Group of Integral Attention to the fight against AIDS is on duty, coordinated by MINSAP to which several sectors of the society contributes, among them the Organisms of the State Central Administration and civil organizations.

HIV AND COVI-19

Cuba had been deeply shocked by the Covid-19 outbreak, mainly during the May to September wave. The pandemic has affected the health care program along the planet and in Cuba. After starting to reverse the epidemiological situation on September and having had a clear control of the disease, we are now readjusting work in the different fields of medicine, said Romero Placeres.

Surveys in population that could possibly be affected by HIV has been intensified after the coming of the new normality of the country in order to detect new cases, mostly in gay men and in the trans population.

As for the disease prevalence in 2021, he informed that a 0.4 have prevailed, without an increase of HIV patients.

Right now we are not over the 1500 new cases and meanwhile surveys among population are being increased.

A high prevalence of infections in the trans population is prevailing, with a 23.55% of infected subjects. That is a warning on the need to increase prevention and health promotion actions destined to gay population and in men who have sex with other men, under the aim of diminishing this indicator.

He stressed that antiretroviral treatment for HIV patients have been guaranteed since 2021.

The head of the STD, HIV and Hepatitis Department of MINSAP mentioned the implementation of a project in 30 municipalities in the country, selected due to their incidence rate and the disease prevalence, funded by the United Nations Development Fund.

Havana and HIV

Romero Placeres commented that the head municipalities of each province are included in this project, and the 15 municipalities of Havana.

The biggest population between 15 and 49 years of age living with HIV is in the targeted group, where the greatest amount of new diagnosed cases have taken place in the last five years. In this group, gay men and trans are concentered, he detailed.

This program-he added-includes specialized services in six polyclinics (four in the capital, one in Holguin and one in Camaguey), focused on a detailed attention on this population.

Each of this places will have a counseling service, for the performance of HIV diagnoses and follows-up to patients newly diagnosed during surveys. The will also have an equipped lab for this purposes where not only hemochemical but viral load tests test could be performed.

Source: Cubadebate