HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean: Current status and future directions
St. Lawrence, J.; Crosby, R.A.
Boletin de la Asociacion Medica de Puerto Rico 91(1-6): 22-28
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0004-4849 Document Number: 703017
The AIDS epidemic continues unabated around the world, zvith an estimated 5.8 million people newly infected in 1998. More than one half of a million HIV infections have occurred in the Caribbean, with rates of AIDS incidence in Puerto Rico being higher than most of the United States. A four-step public health approach to HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rico is outlined: surveillance, risk factor identification, intervention evaluation, and dissemination of interventions. Surveillance systems in Puerto Rico are well developed, with 21,999 AIDS cases being recorded by the Puerto Rican Department of Health as of October, 1998. Risk factor identification activities are conducted by several organizations,, with the HIV Central Registry in the Bayamon Health Region being a primary source of this information. Evaluation of biomedical and behavioral interventions is less well developed in Puerto Rico. Issues related to treatment of HIV-infected persons, HIV testing and counseling, and behavioral interventions designed to lozver HIV incidence are discussed. Effective interventions need to be widely distributed throughout Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, with accompanying training in their delivery to the target audiences.-Economic analyses in the mainland clearly support that sustained HIV-interventions are cost-effective.
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