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Guyana records dip in TB/HIV co-infection rate
– but NAPS still worry about associated mortality
Although there has been a noticeable reduction in the Tuberculosis/HIV co-infection rate, the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) is still signalling some concern. Reports out of NAPS reveal that while there was 31 per cent of such cases in 2012 this had reduced to 25 per cent by the end of last year. 
However, Head of NAPS, Dr Shanti Singh, is adamant that “it is still a serious concern for us because 25 per cent is significant enough that it is impacting on mortality among the HIV population.”
For this reason, Dr Singh, who was yesterday fielding questions from media operatives, said that NAPS has been collaborating with the National TB Control programme to ensure that the TB/HIV response is aligned with the World Health Organisation ‘12 Points’ Plan that comprehensively covers what the response, in this regard, should really be.
Supporting Dr Singh’s disclosure was Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud, who amplified during a stakeholders’ forum yesterday the need to “broaden the fight against TB and HIV and take this opportunity today, World TB Day, to realise and recognise…that most of the deaths that are reported from HIV are actually associated with tuberculosis.”
According to Dr Persaud, at the moment the Health Ministry is looking to tackle the “dangerous combination of these two organisms and we need to put our thoughts together and come up with good solutions that can solve the co-infection.”
He alluded too to the importance of embracing the WHO’s ’12-Point Plan which emphasises screening for both persons infected with TB and HIV, as well as those who are at risk for either disease.
Screening in all instances, he explained, always has the benefit of early treatment and better outcomes.
And in order to address the co-infection dilemma, Dr Singh said that focus is being directed to key populations, a move that is clearly defined in the Ministry of Health’s HI-Vision 2020 Strategic Plan. As such, she noted that efforts are geared towards identifying “what groups of persons we are talking about and what is the key prevention package needed to be delivered to those populations?”
Among the priority populations are the Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) and Commercial Sex Workers (CSW) as defined in the HI-Vision 2020. And efforts to tackle the strategic populations, Dr Singh said, have in fact seen NAPS being able to garner significant support from donor partners in working with civil society organisations, as implementers, to deliver services to those key populations.
Based on the country’s draft National AIDS Progress Report, there has been limited reduction in the number of people reached in the target populations. According to Dr Singh, “when we look at the data we have actually attributed that to the reducing funds that we have had coming in terms of support for the HIV response and particularly that for civil society organisations.”
Nevertheless, she noted that the Health Ministry is hopeful that needful funds will soon be made available as Guyana has been able to sign the Global Fund Phase Two Grant which is likely to see the releasing of approximately US$14.6 million. A significant portion of that Grant, Dr Singh disclosed, would be used to help address efforts to target the vulnerable HIV/AIDS populations.
Once the grant becomes available to Guyana it will be dispersed to sub-recipients and the NAPS Programme Manager is optimistic that “those will be signed in another month and actual implementation in terms of those programmes would be intensified within a month or two.”
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