THE Public Health Ministry and the UNAIDS (Guyana) Office last week agreed on a three-year HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan to help improve the life expectancy of those affected by the virus here.

Under the terms of the HIVision2020 covenant, 90 per cent of Guyanese living with AIDS caused by the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) must be diagnosed by 2020 and a similar number must be receiving their anti-retroviral treatment. Guyana and UNAIDS also estimate that under the pact, 90 per cent of the people must be in treatment with a “fully suppressed viral load” by 2020. This vision will cost the country some US$5.58M ($1.14B) to meet the global target. This is a laudable initiative and even Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings welcomed the costing exercise just ahead of the ongoing national budget process. Cummings said Guyana is committed to the UNAIDS 90-90-90 treatment targets, the elimination of Mother-To-Child Transmission (eMTCT) of HIV and Syphilis which has also been included in the costing.
Since the first case of HIV/AIDS was recorded decades ago, millions of persons around the globe have died annually from the various symptoms associated with it. According to the latest statistics as recorded on the UNAIDS website, 19.5 million people were accessing anti-retroviral therapy in 2016.

•36.7 million [30.8 million–42.9 million] people globally were living with HIV in 2016. 1.8 million [1.6 million–2.1 million] people became newly infected with HIV in 2016; 1 million [830 000–1.2 million] people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2016. •76.1 million [65.2 million–88.0 million] people have become infected with HIV since the start of the epidemic.
•35.0 million [28.9 million–41.5 million] people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic. Despite public service messages, advertisements and seminars hosted to educate persons on the dangers attached to having unprotected sex, there are still a substantial number of persons dying every year from AIDS-related complications.
Millions of dollars are annually being spent to help sensitise the public on the disease which was first diagnosed here in Guyana in the year 1987, not only because of its ability to rob otherwise healthy persons of their lives which knocks decades off of a country’s national development, but also for its ability to “widen the gulf between rich and poor nations and push already stigmatised groups closer to the margins of society.” Since then, a combination of factors such as increased access to anti-retroviral treatments, programmes focussing on youth development, reproductive health and counselling have seen a constant decrease in the number of new cases each year.

Guyana also seems to be doing well in the fight against mother-to-child transmission of the disease as a result of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme, and soon may be able to boast of the public health achievement of eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV as Cuba did.

For all the improvements over the years, however, doctors are now of the opinion that a new formulated strategy needs to be put in place with the spread of the virus, as many persons across the country are taking comfort in its success rate of reduction and this has encouraged complacency, as many have stopped seeing the urgent need for protection which has resulted in “a growing trend of new HIV cases.”

There is an urgent need to sustain and intensify efforts in the fight against infection, so that its levels can be kept at a minimum, particularly amongst young people. Recent statistics have shown that over 60% of the new cases are isolated to young persons, showing the need for more education regarding the virus and its potential dangers amongst the young. Education on prevention aside, more also needs to be done in helping to eliminate or diminish the amount of stigma and discriminative attitudes held towards those with the disease. Stigma in Guyana and around the world is often so strong that those who are infected or suspect that they are, are often hindered from seeking treatment or learning of their status and being educated on preventative measures. This creates a barrier, which could potentially become life-threatening and significantly decrease the mental health of the person.

While there has been some progress over the years with the monitoring and reduction of stigma within the workplace, as guidelines have been put in place to help in that respect, the stigma within the wider society is still largely in place and for the most part will largely remain that way over the next few years.