LIMA, Dec. 1, 2019 (Xinhua) — Citizens and authorities held several health fairs in different parts of the Peruvian capital on Sunday, providing information on treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. ), in addition to other sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis B.
The activities were carried out within the framework of World AIDS Day, which falls on December 1, and which was promoted by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) International.
The head of the prevention department at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) in Peru, Juan Carlos Mignano, noted in a conversation with:
“December 1 is very important because we remember, above all, looking to the future that there is a cure,” Carlos Mignano said, adding that “we have made a lot of progress” in this regard.
The interviewee considered that although Peru encourages measures related to the treatment of patients infected with HIV, there is a lack of other measures aimed at eliminating the social stigma associated with the disease, as patients are often marginalized and discriminated against.
Mignano stated that to prevent further spread of HIV, it is important for citizens to know their status, by immediately going to the health center and starting the process of antiretroviral treatment and stopping the spread of the disease to their peers.
He also called on residents to inform themselves through official channels about what HIV and AIDS mean, as they are two related conditions but there are differences between them.
According to Mignano’s explanation, the idea is to bring health services closer to the population and subject them to HIV testing, in addition to remembering that antiretroviral treatment is provided free of charge.
In Peru, there are about 110,000 people infected with HIV, and 58 percent of cases are located in the capital region of Lima and Callao, although cases have been reported in all regions of the South American country, according to the National Center for Epidemiology. Disease prevention and control.
Just over 90,000 people living with HIV were already receiving antiretroviral therapy nationwide, just over 81 percent of the total number of people living with the disease in the country.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) of Peru has been implementing information campaigns on HIV and its prevention for more than 10 years, in cooperation with health authorities.
(tags for translation) Peru
