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Caribbean Region Registers Fall in AIDS Infections Since 2000

Posted on: Thursday, 1 December 2005, 09:00 CST

Caribbean region registers fall in AIDS infections since 2000

HAVANA, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The countries of the Caribbean region have registered a significant drop in the number of Acquired Immuno- Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) cases over the past five years, the Caribbean Epidemiology Center said in a report published on Wednesday.

Bahamas saw the most impressive reduction in infections, which fell by 44 percent from 2002 to now, while the rate of mother-to- child transmissions dropped by 22 percent. Trinidad and Tobago has also witnessed a significant drop, the report said.

However, the region as a whole remains the second worst affected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, second only to sub-Saharan Africa.

The 15 nations of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) concentrate 20 percent of the World's AIDS cases. A total of 780,000 people are living with the virus and 200 people die of full-blown AIDS every day.

Cuba is one of the countries least affected by the disease in the region. Its AIDS infection rate stands at 0.2 percent, compared with the average two percent rate in the rest of the region.

Cuba has detected 6,782 cases of HIV since 1986. Some 2,784 of the infected have progressed to full-blown AIDS and 314 of them have died.

Among Cuba's AIDS cases, 80.4 percent are men and 19.6 percent are women. 85 percent of the male patients had some sort of homosexual contact.

Thursday marks the World AIDS Day on which Cuba will hold a wide range of cultural activities under the slogan "Let's fulfill our promise, Let's hold back AIDS".

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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