Guyana estimates 500 new cases of HIV

Dec 02, 2019 News

There has been an estimated 500 new HIV cases in Guyana in 2019 according to figures released by the Ministry of Public Health during the launch of the PAN-American Health Organization (PAHO) World AIDS Day activity observed on December 1, each year.
The figures follow some 247 new cases of HIV which was recorded at the end of May 2018.
According to the ‘2018 Basic Indicators’, a publication by the PAHO, ts Director, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, noted that the HIV diagnostic rate was 14.6 people per 100,000 population region-wide, and for every new HIV diagnosis among women, there were 3.6 HIV diagnoses among men.
Last year World Health Organisation [PAHO/WHO] Representative to Guyana, Dr. Bernadette Theodore-Gandi, revealed that the UNAIDS Global AIDS Monitoring database shows that the Caribbean region has seen a 18 percent reduction in new infections of HIV and 23 percent reduction in the number of AIDS-related deaths this year.
“Once, thought to be too ambitious, the Caribbean region now leads the world in the elimination of Mother-to-Child transmission [EMTCT] of HIV and syphilis,” Dr. Theodore-Gandi stated.
She added, “Currently, seven out of the 11 countries were validated globally for EMTCT, and seven out of the eight countries achieving dual elimination of HIV and syphilis are from the Caribbean. These are inspiring steps toward ending the epidemic.”
The PAHO/WHO Representative noted that winning the fight against AIDS requires an appreciation of the factors outside of health that also drive the epidemic. She stated that “the Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] Three, ‘good health and well-being’, aims to ‘ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages. It includes the target which specifically states that by 2030, [we will] end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria…’
But meeting the targets of the other 17 SDGs will also contribute significantly to ending AIDS, as they too provide guidance that supports health and well-being in a holistic way.”
Dr. Theodore-Gandi highlighted too that by ending poverty and hunger [SDGs one and two], the region will be supporting person living with HIV [PLHIV] and their families with the capacity to better manage their lives and adhere to treatment. She emphasised that by supporting high-quality education for all [SDG four], the region will be supporting educational models where boys and girls are empowered with the information necessary to prevent diseases and sexually transmitted infections like HIV. By doing this, she said, there will be improved health and health equity too.
Even as she alluded to SDG five [gender equality], Dr. Theodore-Gandi said “the fight against AIDS will never be won in this region if we fail to address gender inequities, including violence against women and girls.”
She further stated that if the region is to reduce inequalities [SDG 10], there must be an agreement that the principles of Universal Health also include PLHIV, men who have sex with men, women, and girls, sex workers, persons of transgender experience, persons incarcerated, people living with disabilities and all populations most-at-risk. She noted that if the region is to address the underlying factors that leave people vulnerable to HIV infection, no person or group should be left behind.
Dr. Theodore-Gandi underscored that ending AIDS in the Caribbean will require addressing these gaps, as well as the challenges that continue to persist in accessing essential HIV services. While some 73 percent of PLHIV were aware of their HIV status at the end of 2017, only 57 percent were accessing antiretroviral treatment and 40 percent were virally suppressed. Men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender persons, and their sexual partners, represent approximately 70 percent of new cases. In addition, one in every three new cases occurs in young people 15 to 24 years old.

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