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$900 million Global Fund grant to advance HIV/AIDS fight
The way has been cleared for Guyana to benefit from HIV/AIDS funding amounting to US$4.5 million ($900 million). The funding, which comes in the form of a grant from Global Fund, has been approved for the next there years, according to Senior Minister of Public Health, Ms. Volda Lawrence.
Costing of the National Strategic Plan ( which spans 2018-2020) for HIV response was slated to be concluded this month. According to Minister Lawrence monthly statutory meetings between the National AIDS programme Secretariat and the Materials Management Unit are expected to help ensure accurate quantification and timely procurement of antiretrovirals.
She said that a fourth round of the Biological and Behavioral Surveillance Survey of key population is underway.
A report in this regard will be made available by February 2018. This will help Guyana to better understand its HIV/AIDS situation.
As at the end of 2016, the prevalence of HIV, recorded by the Ministry of Public Health, stood at 1.66 percent. This translated to an estimated 8,496 people living with the disease that is known to cause AIDS. This is according to information shared by Minister Lawrence, as she quoted from the UNAIDS 2016 Spectrum Estimate Files.
The UNAIDS Spectrum Estimate Files are essentially surveillance and antiretroviral data obtained from respective Health Ministries.
According to Minister Lawrence, although the local data suggest a slight increase in the figures over the previous year, data collection for the fourth quarter was rigorous. As such, it resulted in more comprehensive programme data being provided for the development of the Spectrum Files.
But deliberate efforts have been initiated, to combat the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, said the Public Health Minister, who recently shared the local HIV/AIDS situation with her parliamentary colleagues.
She said that moves have been made towards aligning the local programme towards the UNAIDS 90/90/90 international standards slated to be attained by 2020.
Minister of Public Health, Ms. Volda Lawrence.
This standard is one that aims at ensuring that 90 percent of the estimated number of people living with HIV be aware of their status; that 90 percent of those aware of their status must be on sustained antiretroviral therapy, and of those on antiretroviral 90 percent must be virally suppressed.
This goal, according to the Public Health Minister, was well on course to becoming a reality when a mid-term review of the national strategic plan was conducted in December 2016.
At the end of last year, Guyana’s 90/90/90 figures stood at 69 percent [status awareness], 84 percent [sustained therapy] and 68 percent [virally suppressed].
But in order to sustain the gains made, Minister Lawrence said that an Oversight Steering Committee to guide implementation of a Sustainability Plan spanning the period 2018 – 2025 was established. According to Minister Lawrence, the designing of the plan began in August. The process came to an end this month and two meetings have thus far been held by the Committee.
Minister Lawrence revealed, too, that Social Contracting Research was conducted to assess Guyana’s readiness to adopt the Sustainability Plan as a means to sustain the HIV response. Added to this, was the establishment of a National Health Account and Committee with a component to monitor HIV expenditure.
Data gathering for the Account, according to the Minister, is ongoing to capture health expenditure across all sectors.
Further, she noted that the ministry has moved to adopt the ‘Treat All Approach’ for all pregnant mothers, children under five, all HIV clients with non communicable diseases [NCDs], discordant couples and all persons under 50.
Moves have also been made towards the completion of a draft Hepatitis guidelines document, which, according to Minister Lawrence, will soon be reviewed with technical support from Pan American Health Organisation.
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