Havana/The transsexual women of Havana have “one of the highest prevalence rates” of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) throughout Latin America, according to a study published Monday by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
The Survey of HIV seroprevalence, syphilis, HBB, HCVthe first detailing HIV prevalence rates in some cities in Cuba, points out that 54.9% of transsexual women in the Cuban capital have the virus.
In comparison, the median of HIV’s prevalence in transsexual women in Latin America was 22.1% in 2022, reports the study by citing the United Nations.
In comparison, the median of the prevalence of HIV in transsexual women in Latin America was 22.1% in 2022, reports the study by citing the United Nations
The other key population on which the study focuses, that of men who have sex with other men (HSH), records an HIV prevalence of 37.9% for residents of that group in Havana.
Of the people surveyed, only 46.8% of the transsexual women in Havana and 32.2% of the HSH capitals knew they had HIV before undergoing the study.
The study recalls that, worldwide, the so -called key populations (trans women, HSH, sexual workers, intravenous drug consumers and people deprived of liberty) represent less than 5% of the population, but they represent 70% of the new infections.
The survey estimates that only 1443 transsexual women and about 29,104 hSh live in Havana. It also emphasizes that in Cuba the main route of HIV transmission is sexual, which represents more than 99% of the cases notified.
The study, of 234 pages, also provides disease extension figures such as syphilis and hepatitis B in Havana, Cienfuegos and Bayamo, the three cities in which the survey is carried out, but with rates much lower than that of HIV.
The investigation was carried out between December 2022 and April 2023 and had the technical and financial support of the World Fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and the United Nations malaria.
