Oxfam & MEDICC Team Up to Publish on HIV in Cuba

December 10, 2008 - In commemoration of World AIDS Day, the Oxfam Joint Program in Cuba presented its report "Cuba's HIV/AIDS Strategy: An Integrated, Rights-Based Approach," written and researched by MEDICC Review's Senior Editor Conner Gorry. The report, available in English and Spanish, was presented on December 1 during the international conference Medical Education for the 21st Century: Teaching for Health Equity. The report discusses the history of HIV in Cuba, details the current national program, its approach, implementation, and indicators, and analyzes the challenges that remain. Finally, it makes recommendations for the elements that might be adapted to other contexts.

"Oxfam published this report because we think the Cuban approach to HIV and AIDS can inform rights-based health policy in other low income countries," says Beat Schmid, Coordinator of the Oxfam Joint Program in Cuba. Schmid points to Cuba's low HIV prevalence rate (at 0.1%, the lowest in the Americas), extremely low rates of AIDS-related mortality and mother-to-child transmission, and free anti-retroviral treatment for those needing it as achievements worthy of study. That Cuba has kept prevalence so low among women in particular, drew Oxfam's attention to the country's program; currently 19% of people with HIV in Cuba are women, as compared to 43% in the rest of the Caribbean.

The report convenes the latest data from the island, plus interviews with Cuban health professionals, policy makers, and researchers, HIV prevention volunteers, and people with HIV. 

To download a PDF of the report in English or Spanish, visit

English Español

For information about the conference Medical Education for the 21st Century: Teaching for Health Equity, visit