SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 30 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) reported a total of 207 HIV infections last year with a rate of 9.53 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and 86 percent detected in men, aged between 25 and 35 years.
The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands has made public these data on the occasion of ‘World AIDS Day’ which is commemorated under the slogan ‘Live positively.
No one should have their rights and opportunities limited because they have HIV.’
By transmission category, 69.4 percent are men who have sex with men, 35.7 percent correspond to unprotected relationships between men and women, and 1.4 percent to people who inject drugs.
By origin, 72.9 percent are Spanish and according to the time of diagnosis, 53.6 percent presented late diagnosis.
Likewise, in 2021 no cases of mother-to-child transmission have been reported and the number of seropositive patients treated in hospital centers in the Canary Islands during the past year 2021 was 7,068, with an investment in antiretrovirals of 35,263,081 euros.
In the Canary Islands, efforts to control HIV infection are aimed at reducing the number of new infections, favoring prevention and early diagnosis in the population and, especially, in different contexts of great vulnerability (gays, bisexuals and men who have sex with men, transsexual women in prostitution, high-risk prostitution, people who inject drugs, serodiscordant couples and people in extreme poverty).
In this sense, the Ministry recalls in a note that respect for human rights and gender equality in the response to HIV must be promoted to promote protection against stigma and discrimination and not tolerate sexual violence.
The General Directorate of Public Health of the SCS also wants to promote the active participation of all people, professional groups, associations, organizations, community environments and local, island and regional administrations to achieve universal access to prevention, treatment, HIV-related care and solidarity.
AGREEMENT FOR NON-DISCRIMINATION
Likewise, the Canary Islands support the ‘Social pact for non-discrimination and equal treatment associated with HIV’, an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Health embodied in a
declaration of intent agreed upon and signed by the key social and institutional agents in the response to HIV.
Its objective is to eliminate the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS, guaranteeing equal treatment and
opportunities, non-discrimination, respect for fundamental rights and the diversity of the people affected.
To commemorate ‘World AIDS Day 2022’, preventive material will be distributed in health centers and hospitals, Drug Addiction Care Units, NGOs and LGTBI groups, associations and other organizations and institutions, both public and private.
private; a campaign on social networks and through the government’s institutional website and round tables, cineforum, video contest, tributes or exhibitions, among others.
