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Cuba to Celebrate World AIDS Response Day

Havana, Nov 16. -Cuba is carrying out a broad program of activities to celebrate the World AIDs Response Day on December 1 as reported by specialists from the Cuban Public Health Ministry Tuesday.A cultural gala with the participation of outstanding artists and athletes, a skating marathon, community debates, book presentations, theater performances and video debates are some of the activities, said Manuel Hernandez, an expert with the AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (AIDS/ITS) National Prevention Center.

This way, Cuba will join the initiative being promoted by UNAIDS, a UN agency that carries out activities and programs against AIDS, to promote programs and projects to reduce new infections, deaths by AIDS and discrimination in the world to zero.

In this regard, Maria Isela Lantero, head of the National Prevention and Control Program, highlighted the importance of the perspective but she recognized that it is not possible to achieve that in Cuba.

"To hope for zero transmission, zero deaths, zero discrimination in Cuba, from now to 2015, is quite difficult, but it is worth knowing the disease can be prevented, and maybe, to reach to a status in which the epidemic is not a problem any more," she assured.

Cuba is working on its own response to the epidemic, to try to reduce the number of cases infected by AIDS, she added. (Prensa Latina)