The study also provides figures on the spread of diseases such as syphilis and hepatitis B in Havana, Cienfuegos and Bayamo.
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 19 August 2025 — Transgender women in Havana have “one of the highest prevalence rates” of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in all of Latin America, according to a study published Monday by Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
The “HIV, Syphilis, HBV, and HCV Seroprevalence Survey,” the first to detail HIV prevalence rates in selected Cuban cities, indicates that 54.9% of transgender women in the Cuban capital have the virus.
By comparison, the median HIV prevalence among transgender women in Latin America was 22.1% in 2022, the study reports, citing the United Nations.
In comparison, the median HIV prevalence among transgender women in Latin America was 22.1% in 2022, the study reports, citing the United Nations.
The other key population focused on in the study, men who have sex with men (MSM), has an HIV prevalence of 37.9% among residents of this group in Havana.
Of those surveyed, only 46.8% of transgender women in Havana and 32.2% of MSM in the capital knew they had HIV before undergoing the test.
The study notes that, globally, so-called key populations (trans women, MSM, sex workers, intravenous drug users, and prisoners) represent less than 5% of the population but account for 70% of new infections.
The survey estimates that there are approximately 1,443 transgender women and 29,104 MSM living in Havana alone. It also highlights that in Cuba, the main route of HIV transmission is sexual, accounting for more than 99% of reported cases.
The 234-page study also provides figures on the prevalence of diseases such as syphilis and hepatitis B in Havana, Cienfuegos, and Bayamo, the three cities where the survey was conducted; these figures present much lower rates than that of HIV.
The research was conducted between December 2022 and April 2023 and was supported technically and financially by the United Nations Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
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