Cuba hosts II Forum on HIV/AIDS/STD of Latin America and the Caribbean

Issues such as the attention and prevention of the Aids virus and public policies regarding this and other sexually transmitted diseases were discussed during the Forum held in La Havana, Cuba from 7-12 April 2003.

The conference was organized by the Horizontal Technical Cooperation Group in Latin America, a regional network of national AIDS program coordinators in the region.

Different civil society organizations, Non Governmental Organizations (NGO), National Programmes, Organizations of People living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV), several public and private institutions of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as International Agencies got together in the Caribbean island to develop an exchange process of experiences and knowledge about HIV/AIDS in the Latin American and Caribbean regions.

Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) who held a speech during the opening of the Forum stressed the fact that despite considerable progress made in assistance and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean, resources aimed to prevent AIDS in this region are still insufficient.

Closely trailing Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean is the second region with the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS (2 million people).

For more information on the results of the Forum please click here.

To read the article about the report of the status of the AIDS epidemic in the world for 2002, a joint publication of various UN agencies, please click here.