Tough measures to
curtail the incidence Of AIDS
have helped Cuba win what
often seems a losing battle in
many parts of the world. The
methods, adopted a decade
ago, include the quarantine
of people infected with DIV
and an extensive screening
programme for pregnant
women, blood donors, people with sexually transmitted
diseases and Cubans who
have lived abroad. "At the
start of the epidemic, putting
people in the sanatoriums
played a critical role in limiting the extent of infection,"
says Reinaldo G Gill, an epidemologist in charge of the
Cuban health ministry's AIDS
programme.
Hard statistics tend to
support Gil's assertion. The
country, according to the
World Health Organization,
can also claim to be among
those with the lowest incicl@nce Of AIDS in Latin
America and the Caribbean:
0.8 reported cases per
100,000 people compared to
the Bahamas with 131.4
cases, Bermuda with 77.2,
Brazil with 4.7 cases and
Honduras with 13.6.
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