The issue of HIV/AIDS is one which has been widely and extensively covered both in Guyana, the wider Caribbean region and further afield, but one wonders if the dangers this disease pose has been fully absorbed and assimilated into the minds of people, particularly young people, who continue to be chiefly affected by this scourge. The disease continues to spread in and out of Guyana, and despite countless governmental and non-governmental interventions, millions and billions of dollars being expended on its treatment and public sensitisation, the virus continues to be the chief killer of our young people.

The 2008 United Nations Report on the global AIDS epidemic confirms that the world is, at last, making some real progress in its response to AIDS.

Guyana’s position is not as dire as it was ten or fifteen years ago.  There have been several strides made  by the Ministry of Health and other donor agencies to help control the spread of the disease. Despite these efforts, however, young people continue to act irresponsibly and many are still very much at risk.

Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy recently confirming this, noted that people by nature are inclined to take risks, a development which continues to be the death of many; he also stressed the very real need of sustaining awareness efforts of the deadly risks posed by the HIV/AIDS virus.  He also acknowledged that there is a need for more to be done at effecting change in people.

But in spite of the unfailing work of many organizations, governmental and non-governmental, behavioural change is coming about very slowly and many are still at risk of being infected.

The various sectors are equipped with the relevant financial and scientific resources to help control the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus, Minister Ramsammy believes, and as such, he has put forth a more challenging task for Guyana: that of its elimination by the year 2020.

The UN Report confirms that Governments are acting on their promises at the 2006 United Nations High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS to scale up towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support by this year, 2010.

As of 2008, a small number of countries, Guyana being no exception, are already providing universal access to antiretroviral treatment and to services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.  Others are well on the way to doing so and in more and more countries, HIV infection levels are falling.

This however, is only the beginning. Twenty-seven years into the epidemic, AIDS continues to challenge all of our efforts.  Today, for every two people who start taking antiretroviral drugs, another five become newly infected.

In the countries most heavily affected, HIV has reduced life expectancy by more than 20 years, slowed economic growth, and deepened household poverty.

Millennium Development Goal number 6, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, is still very much on the front burner of many countries and Guyana is now on the verge of trying to achieve this very ambitious plan by 2020.

A strong HIV response yields health benefits that extend well beyond HIV itself, as it is well known that HIV is an important contributing factor in the continued spread of tuberculosis.

Therefore, the global push to expand access to HIV treatment in resource-limited settings is helping to strengthen fragile health infrastructures and is driving improvements in human capacity in low- and middle-income countries.

Universal Access
According to the UN Report, universal access signifies both a concrete commitment and a renewed resolve among people the world over to reverse the course of the epidemic. It is a process that builds on past initiatives and infuses existing efforts with greater momentum.

However, universal access does not imply that there will be, or should be, 100% HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support services—even in high-income countries where health care is universally available, as some patients who are medically eligible for antiretroviral drugs are not receiving them for various reasons

Beginning to reverse the epidemic by 2015

A principal finding of the report is that, although some countries are on course to meet the 2010 targets in the Declaration of Commitment, others are not. Without a substantial strengthening and acceleration of the HIV response, many countries will not achieve universal access to HIV treatment, care, and support by 2010 or begin to reverse the epidemic by 2015.

The report also finds that there is need for the global community to renew and strengthen its commitment to work with countries to expedite progress towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support on a global scale. However, while the HIV epidemic has stabilized, there is still an unacceptably high level of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths.

Globally, an estimated 33 million [30.3 million–36.1 million] people were found to be living with HIV in 2007.   The annual number of new HIV infections has however, declined from 3.0 million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2007.

Overall, an estimated 2.0 million people died due to AIDS in 2007, compared with an estimated 1.7 million in 2001.  Women account for half of all people living with HIV worldwide, and nearly 60% of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa.

Over the last 10 years, the proportion of women among people living with HIV has remained stable globally, but this has increased in many regions, including the Caribbean.

Troublingly, young people aged 15–24 account for an estimated 45% of new HIV infections worldwide, while an average of 370,000 children younger than 15 years became infected with HIV in 2007, which reflects an increase, globally, of 1.6 million in 2001 to 2.0 million in 2007.

It is estimated that some 230,000 people were living with HIV in the Caribbean in 2007 (three quarters of whom reside in the Dominican Republic and Haiti), while an estimated 20,000 people were newly infected with HIV in this region, with an average of 14,000 people who died as a result of the virus.

HIV is a biological entity that is responsive to medical interventions, but the epidemic has continued to expand, largely due to the failure to tackle societal conditions that increase HIV risk and vulnerability.

These alarming numbers beg the questions of whether the issues of gender inequality, empowerment of women and girls; stigma and discrimination and social marginalisation are being addressed adequately and what else can be done by you, as a young woman or a young man, to effect behavioural change in yourself and your sex partners.

Some might shrug off the slogan “Protect Your Pleasure” in relation to their own lifestyles, but it is one which can no longer be ignored or disregarded if we are to continue to live long and healthy lives.