By Svetlana Marshall

GUYANA has made significant strides in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings said yesterday as she launched UNAIDS 2016-2021 Strategy, ‘On the Fast-Track to end AIDS’.With a universal agenda firmly grounded in evidence and rights-based approaches, the strategy maps out the UNAIDS Fast-Track approach to accelerate the AIDS response over the next five years to reach critical HIV prevention and treatment targets, in addition to the achievement of zero discrimination.

In the presence of UNAIDS Country Director Martin Odiit; UN Resident Coordinator Khadija Musa; Guyana’s National AIDS Programme Manager, Dr. Shanti Singh; and PANCAP (Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS) Manager, Dereck Springer, Minister Cummings said more than a decade ago, HIV in Guyana was viewed as a death sentence.

MEDICINES
However, she said, with the backing of international partners, Guyana has made leaps and bounds, and as such Guyanese now has access to life-saving medicines.

“The AIDS response has been like no other. From the start, it has put the focus on people and put their needs first. It has been a turning point for the recognition of health as a human right. And it has brought extraordinary results on treatment and prevention alike,” the Health Minister said.

At the end of 2014, a total of 5,041 persons (55.8% females and 44.2% males) were listed on the register in the care and treatment programme. Of the total, 4,295 were receiving antiretroviral treatment and had utilized the 22 treatment sites that are spread across the 10 Administrative Regions of Guyana. The stats show that there has been a decline in the prevalence of HIV.
“Reported HIV cases under one year old have remained below five since 2008. Within the national cohort of people on ART, the survivability at 12-month is over 80% while survivability for 24, 36 and 60 months are reported at 75%, 72.4% and 63% respectively. This indicates that people living with HIV are generally living longer and healthier lives,” she said.

However, she noted, the “business” is not yet over, positing that in an effort to achieve the 90-90-90 treatment target, countries must refocus their response to those who are being left behind.

UNAWARE
“There are many out there who still do not know their positive status and who are not yet accessing treatment. At the current pace, we shall not end AIDS as a public health threat… (But) our experience shows that together we can set ambitious, even aspirational goals, achieve them and then reach for more.”

FAST-TRACKING

Turning her attention to the 2016-2021 Strategy, Minister Cummings said fast-tracking the response will rely on front-loading investments and accelerating rights-based action in the coming years.

“Quickening the pace over the next five years is pivotal to global prospects for bringing the AIDS epidemic to an end. Continuing at the current pace will mean continuing to leave people behind, exacerbating inequalities, unsustainably expanding costs and compromising social justice. An ambitious global strategy is required to take us forward – one that mobilizes political commitment, focuses resources and accelerates progress,” the Minister said.

Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator Musa, in delivering her remarks, said the strategy comes at a critical time in the history of the HIV epidemic and response, adding that it is a result of a highly consultative process that involved thousands of stakeholders.
Musa said also that in addition to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 which focuses on health, the new strategy, in its eight results areas also focuses on other SDGs.
There is the inclusion of SDG 5 – Gender Equality, SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities, and SDG 17 – Partnership for the Goals; she pointed out, noting that these SDGs have targets that impact the AIDS response.

“Important to note is the prominence of human rights issues in the new strategy. In order for there to be progress issues such as sexual and reproductive health and rights, and comprehensive sexuality education must be addressed,” the UN Resident Coordinator emphasized.

As the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS gears up to implement the 2016-2021 strategy, Musa said that the entire United Nations Country Team stands ready to provide the necessary support.

At the 70th UN General Assembly in New York in September 2015, Heads of State endorsed the SDGs agenda in which one of the targets is to end AIDS by 2030.

Subsequently, at its 37th meeting, the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board adopted the new strategy to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

UNAIDS Country Director Odiit, in introducing the strategy, said it is the first in the United Nations system to be aligned to the SDGs. The strategy, he explained, is an urgent call to front-load investment, thereby increasing focus and financing for HIV prevention and simultaneously protecting the health of the 22 million people living with HIV but are not yet accessing treatment.

Additionally, it was designed to guide and support locally tailored responses across the globe while fostering new forms of leadership and accountability – especially at the regional level.