Infectious Diseases in Americas, Topic at Conference in Havana

With a keynote speech "Situation of infectious diseases in the Americas: progresses and challenges," the second and penultimate day of the Eighth Cuban Congress on Microbiology and Parasitology begins today.

The lecture will be offered by delegates from the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) in Washington.

Myths, dreams and realities regarding vaccines to fight the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), by U.S. researcher Jose Esparza, is another subject to be discussed today.

As part of the "Jose Valdivia in Memoriam" Simposium, one of the five congresses dedicated to relevant Latin American scientists, the elimination of tuberculosis and other mycobacteriosis will be analyzed.

The participation of speakers from the United States, Mexico and Cuba is expected at that panel.

The Eighth Cuban Congress on Microbiology and Parasitology, as well as the Fifth National Congress on Tropical Medicine, and the Fifth International Seminar on HIV/AIDS infection in Cuba, running parallel to the event, will end tomorrow at Havana's Conference Center.

The event is organized by the Cuban Society of Microbiology and Parasitology, and sponsored by 16 entities and organizations, among them the UN Development Program, and the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine.