4 ms·
This is pretty great. Only 2 babies born with HIV in Cuba last year, although the article doesn't say how many were born previous years. Only data I could find
by ohitsdom 11y ago
This is pretty great. Only 2 babies born with HIV in Cuba last year, although the article doesn't say how many were born previous years.
Only data I could find says as of 2011, 6,200 adults had HIV in Cuba.
- cafard 11y agoI don't know whether the policy has changed since I read of it many years ago, but the Cuban government treated HIV infection pretty much the way the US government once treated leprosy: turn up positive, and you were quarantined.
- pki 11y agoTechnically, this does work doesn't it?
- mikeash 11y agoIt works on everybody you find, but that kind of treatment tends to discourage people from coming forward, which can make things worse.
- meric 11y agoIt was a much better environment inside the sanatorium - free good food, medicines, beds, so it isn't too bad of a choice to come forward - some people even injected themselves with HIV to get into the sanatorium.
- Crito 11y agoThat seems very short-sighted. With (what appeared at the time as) a looming epidemic, what made them so confident that conditions at the sanatorium would be maintained in the future?
- chc 11y agoNot in a much more meaningful way than a gunshot to the head works for curing cancer.
- douche 11y agoFor some kinds of cancer a gunshot to the head is the humane choice
- matthewmacleod 11y agoI suspect not. It seems likely that such a policy would prevent any at-risk patients voluntarily testing, meaning they remain unaware of their HIV status and continue to spread the virus. I'm not sure if there's research on this though - it would be interesting to see.
- pandaman 11y agoIf Cuba is anything like the USSR, preventing voluntary testing does not mean one can remain untested. The government medicine also means you cannot deny medical procedures that the government has prescribed to you.
- amanthewinner 11y agonot entirely accurate, yes you are quarantined, but for 8 weeks of intensive education about your condition and the risks of infecting others. Then you are released and given full access to antiretroviral drugs.
- jws 11y agoSeems to check out with the numbers. 6200 HIV adults and a stable population says something like 3100 are female and with 30 child bearing years and two children over that period about 200 of them should give birth each year. A 1% probability of passing along HIV with the retroviral treatment gives 2 HIV babies a year. (I'm actually a little surprised when a news article's math works.)