Towards zero discrimination.
Ten years for welfare and rights. This March 1st, 2024 marks the tenth edition of the International Day Against Discrimination.
Although in forty years HIV-related stigma and discrimination killed more than the virus, it took us a while to recognize the importance of using an International Day to raise awareness.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly established March 1st as Zero Discrimination Day in 2013, following efforts by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to end the stigma of people living with HIV.
As soon as HIV was discovered, society and institutions linked its transmission with stereotypes that marked people living with the virus and their environment. In addition, those who were diagnosed positive had to face their own stigma that led them to lose self-esteem and reject themselves.
Since the beginning of the infection in the 1980s, much progress has been made on the scientific, medical and prejudice-related aspects of HIV and AIDS, although there are still many walls to be broken down in terms of discrimination.
Today, for example, 48 countries globally still impose restrictions on entry into their territory for people living with HIV, while 53 territories report requiring mandatory HIV testing, for example, to obtain marriage certificates or to practice certain professions.
Similarly, 106 countries report requiring parental consent for adolescents to access HIV testing, according to UNAIDS.
A support network from Cuba
The year 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of the joint effort of MINSAP, the National Center for Prevention and Control of STIs and HIV/AIDS, and the coordinators of the PLHIV line, today RedCub+, to accompany the community of people with HIV and to find allies in the work of prevention and control of this epidemic, its care and treatment.
The mission of the Cub+ Network is to be a Cuban civil society organization that provides community-based services in the areas of care and attention, rights, gender, equity and organizational strengthening, which, in a committed manner and with proven capabilities, focuses on people living with HIV (PLHIV), their partners and families through peer education throughout the national territory.
Cuban health authorities have articulated a strategy to confront HIV that integrates prevention, diagnosis, care, follow-up and support services; in which the work of health personnel and volunteer promoters is combined, in favor of the most vulnerable people; in alliance with key populations and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the country, with support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Since 2010-2020, the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) has promoted the decentralization of HIV prevention, diagnosis and treatment services to primary health care (PHC) facilities in order to improve the quality of care and access to services for the people most vulnerable to this epidemic.
In support of this process, since 2013 UNDP has provided inputs, training and technical assistance to ensure sustainability. With the support of this agency, since 2022, thirteen municipalities in Cuba offer pre-exposure therapy, an innovative and high-impact intervention in HIV prevention, 30 municipalities have strengthened health facilities to offer differentiated HIV prevention services, 14 polyclinics have renewed their medical and laboratory equipment and have solid logistical capabilities to offer differentiated HIV services and there is a Datasoft digital system that facilitates the monitoring of HIV prevention and diagnosis services.
In Matanzas: sustained prevention work
The RedCub+ has 2064 members throughout the country, 254 of whom work in the province of Matanzas, according to the central report of the XXII National Meeting of people living with HIV, held in November 2023.
Among the main actions are the management of adhesions, monitoring to know the needs and demands of the community of people with HIV.
Attention to children, adolescents and young people affected also focuses the attention of this organization by training psychopedagogues and psychologists to serve these populations, as well as training managers in gender and law and the operation of legal counseling services.
For example, the coordinators, nurses and doctors of the Municipal ITs, HIV-AIDS and Hepatitis Counseling Office in Matanzas offer a wide range of services, including psychological care and guidance on antiretroviral treatments.
The counseling center, located on San Fernando Street between San Carlos and San Vicente in the Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood, is a center free of stigma and discrimination, where anyone can receive support.
The Center’s actions are aimed at ensuring that all people living with the virus receive treatment with medication and are accompanied by specialists.
In addition, at the Legal Counseling session, people can meet with a lawyer for guidance if they consider that any of their civil rights have been violated because of their sexual preference.
In Cuba there are more than 28 thousand people with this condition, of whom more than 96.7 percent are treated. On a date like today, it is important to remember that these people deserve respect and understanding from the rest of society.
Written by Claudia Ortega Valido.
