A new report finds that in addition to other forms of discrimination, lesbian and bisexual women in Cuba face unequal treatment from public health services and their specific sexual and reproductive health needs are ignored.

Lesbians receive less information about STI prevention than other population groups and they have fewer welcoming institutional spaces where they can socialise and discuss their problems, said the report. The research study debunks the myth that engaging in lesbian sex avoids all infection risks, although these are indeed much lower than for other sexual behaviours.

Women represented 18.5% of the 2,156 new HIV-positive cases diagnosed in Cuba in 2013, bringing the total number of people living with the virus to 16,400, according to the Ministry of Public Health. Read More