Las Palmas De Gran Canaria, Apr 16 (EFE) .- Spain will involve the 27 in the non-stigmatization of HIV during its fifth Presidency of the EU, in the second half of 2023, the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, announced this Saturday , in the adherence of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to this commitment, established in the Paris Declaration of 2014.
Darias has announced this challenge following participating in the addition of the first Canarian city, and number 18 in Spain, to the “Fast Track Cities” network.
An international rapid response strategy for HIV, which works to ensure that by 2030, 95% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 95% of those diagnosed continue to follow adequate treatment, and 95% of people in treatment manage to suppress the viral load, so that they stay healthy and reduce the risk of HIV transmission, in addition to achieving “zero stigma and discrimination” of the group.
© Provided by Agencia EFE
When 40 years have passed since the first case of HIV diagnosed in Spain, Darias has stressed that, as has happened with covid-19, some and other patients have had to deal with ignorance, fear or the rapid spread of cases , with the difference that the former have also been subject to “stigma and discrimination for too long”, which has led many to die marginalized by much of society.
The ultimate goal of the “Fast Track Cities” network strategy is for HIV to cease to be a public health problem by 2030, as explained by its European manager, Gonzalo Lobo, who highlighted that 45% of new diagnosed cases and that 7 out of 10 cases that are currently detected occur in middle-aged men who have unprotected sexual relations.
Both Darias and Lobo have trusted that Las Palmas de Gran Canaria will be one of the first Spanish cities to achieve the triple challenge of 95-95-95, to which the minister hopes that the rest of the Spanish cities that have not yet have joined this initiative, which seeks to guarantee those infected with HIV “a life full of health and rights, an objective and commitment of the country.” (photo)
(c) EFE Agency