World leader spoke of the fight against AIDS and received a title | Community | Guayaquil

His arrival at the Plaza Rodolfo Baquerizo Moreno Exhibition Center was the most awaited of the members of the organizations that make up the cantonal HIV prevention network (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).

Michel Sidibé, the world leader in the fight against the virus that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), arrived yesterday on the site to share the advances and strategies effectively applied to populations exposed to HIV.

Sidibé is the executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS) and Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, and came to the country ten years after the creation of Coalition Plus, an international network of community-based organizations fighting HIV and launching the platform for the Americas and the Caribbean to combat HIV and hepatitis.

The official delegation of this body is the Kimirina Corporation, an Ecuadorian non-governmental organization (NGO) that has been working for 19 years to defend the rights of people infected by this disease.

In the exhibition center, the director of UNAIDS was declared the city's guest of honor. And the person responsible for the declaration was Rodolfo Ceprián, councilor of the municipality.

With the help of an interpreter, Sidibé thanked the title that he also received in Quito, the city he was on Tuesday. He considered that the government's decision to increase the number of tests currently being conducted was essential.

And this, he added, has had an impact on the appearance of new infected people, which is important since these people will soon have access to treatment for the disease.

According to him, the result was a 44% reduction in deaths in the country. Ministry of Health estimates reveal that out of 41,682 people living with HIV and only 22,050 (52.9%) know their status.

Lilly Márquez, head of Zone 8's Health Coordination HIV Prevention Strategy, said that between January and September this year, 108 new cases of HIV were reported.

Sidibé said the country still needed a more specific approach to reaching key communities such as, for example, gays, transgender women, sex workers, and so on. (I)