According to the X profile of the Presidency of Cuba, the president spoke at the Palace of the Revolution (seat of Government) with the high representative of the United Nations and presented ideas about the Cuban Strategy to address this disease.
Díaz-Canel explained to the visitor the community and intersectoral projection of the Cuban program to confront this disease, expanded a report on Cuban television.
All ministries, organizations and activities that are of interest for prevention and patient care are linked to it, for which the role of science and innovation is taken into account, argued the Cuban president.
He also commented to the deputy secretary of the United Nations (UN), the impact of the United States blockade on the Cuban health system, which entails greater efforts for comprehensive care for people living with HIV/AIDS.
The head of state expressed his confidence in South-South cooperation in a world where conflicts prevail, the gap between rich and poor grows and access to medicine in general is highly politicized.
In this sense, he denounced the way of operating of transnational companies dedicated to the trade of medicines and medical treatments that are not interested in people’s health, quite the opposite.
In that context, he said, Cuba continues to defy adversity with talent and resistance, and maintains its willingness to continue cooperating with UNAIDS.
In dialogue with the presidential press, Byanyima recognized that Cuba is at the forefront in the fight against HIV/AIDS and recalled that the Caribbean nation was the first country in the world to eliminate the transmission of the disease from mothers to their children.
The deputy secretary of the UN assured that she went to the island to learn about its history in the treatment of patients suffering from the disease, through its free primary care system.
Byanyima is an advocate for social justice and gender equality and leads UN efforts to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030.
On the Caribbean island, the executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS will carry out a work agenda that includes conversations with authorities from various sectors and visits to health and biopharmaceutical institutions.
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