Reps. of at-risk populations accompany Minister to HIV high level meeting

Jun 07, 2016 News

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Accompanied by representatives of populations at-risk for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, is scheduled to travel to New York today for a United Nation (UNs) High Level meeting.

The meeting, which will commence tomorrow and culminate on Friday, is expected to have high on its agenda, discussions on the way forward in accelerating the response to HIV.
According to Minister Norton it is important that the forum has input from at-risk populations since the at-risk groups such as Men who have sex with Men (MSM) and Commercial Sex Workers have been left behind in the fight against the disease.
UN Secretary General Special Envoy on HIV and AIDS, Dr. Edward Greene, noted that because of the persistence of discriminatory laws these at-risk groups do not seek help and by extension access to treatment.
Dr. Greene stressed the need for intervening measures to be put in place to target and reduce existing discrimination. “On behalf of the Secretary General I continue to appeal to countries to do something about punitive laws. People say they (laws) are not implemented but that’s not the response,” stressed Dr. Greene
Moreover, Minister Norton’s delegation will include representatives of Commercial Sex Workers, Men who have Sex with Men and Transvestite populations.
The UN General Assembly will seek to amplify the need to accelerate the HIV response over the next five years to set the world on course to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Among the UNAIDS time-bound targets of its fast-track approach are the reduction of the number of people newly infected with HIV from two million in 2014 to fewer than 500,000 in 2020 and the elimination of HIV-related discrimination.
Among the items on the agenda for the meeting are five panel discussions. The themes are AIDS within the SDG’s: leveraging the end of AIDS for social transformation and sustainable development, Financing the end of AIDS: the window of opportunity; Getting ahead of the looming treatment crisis: an action agenda for getting 90-90-90; Leaving no one behind: ending stigma and discrimination through social justice and inclusive societies and Children, adolescents and young women: preventing new HIV infections.
The situation in Guyana currently translates to about 8,000 individuals living with HIV, according to Dr. Norton. He also revealed that there are about 500 new cases recorded annually.
Some 200 of these infected individuals die each year of complications related to AIDS, the Minister disclosed. AIDS is the syndrome caused by HIV.
But a great deal of progress has been made over the years, to tackle the scourge of HIV. Part of the efforts according to the Minister has included the introduction of strategic programmes aimed at helping to eliminate the transmission of HIV from mother to child.
Guyana has achieved significant gains in its Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) response over the past decade. This is according to UNAIDS Representative to Guyana and Suriname, Dr. Martin Ouditt.
Based on UNAIDS estimates, in 2015 about three out of every five persons living with HIV were receiving Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) representing 58 per cent of the HIV population. This translated to a previous state of affairs whereby approximately one in five persons or 22 per cent were able to access ART 10 years ago.
And according to Dr. Ouditt, “By participating in the high level meeting to end AIDS, Guyana is taking part in a unique moment in history…focus must remain strong to ensure that gains of the national AIDS response are leveraged rather than lost during this period of transition and hope.”
Following this meeting, Dr. Norton will travel to Boston, Massachusetts, where the Harvard Health Leaders’ Ministerial forum will be held at the Harvard University from June 12-15, 2016.
Four principle areas will be the focus of the forum: leadership effectiveness, priority setting, health and resource utilization and policy implementation. The forum is the most important component of Harvard’s Ministerial Leadership in Health (MLIH) programme.
The MLIH also works with serving Health and Finance Ministers to achieve ambitious goals by optimizing leadership opportunities, increasing health budget effectiveness and efficiency in resource utilization and strengthening public health system performance and outcomes
The programme is a joint initiative of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School.
While in the US, the Minister is expected to visit the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The facility, according to the Minister, deals with the international health regulations and has focal points in a number of countries.

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