Timely and accurate detection of HIV infection is critical due to the seriousness of AIDS and its impact on individuals and families, the long symptom-free incubation period, the benefits of enrolling patients as early as possible in therapy and follow-up, and as a pillar of population-based prevention strategies aimed at curbing the epidemic. Thus, an essential component of Cuba’s

National HIV/AIDS Program (full title, National Program for Prevention and Control of Sexually-Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS) is laboratory diagnosis,[1,2] based on an extensive laboratory network, effective confirmatory algorithms and quality control with external evaluation.