The HIV/AIDS fight

By Jainarine  Deonauth

World AIDS Day, which was observed on December 1, brings together people from around the world to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic. The day provides an opportunity for public and private partners to spread awareness about the status of the pandemic and encourage progress in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care in high prevalence countries and around the world.
Countries pledged in 2011 to take specific steps to achieve ambitious goals by 2015. While some have already achieved measurable progress and are closer to achieving the targets agreed to, there is still a far way to go for others. According to a recent report by UNAIDS, 34 million people around the world are now thought to have the virus that causes AIDS. It should also be noted that the number of new infections in adults has stayed broadly stable for the past four years – at about 2.5 million new cases a year.
The head of UNAIDS, Michael Sidibi, was quoted as saying that 25 countries have reduced the number of new infections by more than 50 per cent. “In general, the world has moved from a phase of political rhetoric to programmes being implemented and having an effect. But some countries aren’t using the right strategies – Russia, for example, where infections are still growing,” he said.
The report mentions that many more people with HIV are now receiving life-saving drugs which help to keep the virus under control. But it also estimates seven million people who need treatment still do not have it. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most severely affected part of the world, though some countries there have made impressive efforts in reducing fresh cases. For example, Ethiopia, Malawi and Botswana have achieved big reductions in new infections, which show they are capable of controlling the epidemic.
In the Caribbean, we can boast of several successes in relation to our HIV response.  Programmes to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, reduce new HIV infections, and treat people living with the virus have yielded encouraging results. For example, from 2009 to 2011, there was a 32 per cent reduction in the number of babies contracting HIV from their mothers.
Additionally, the Caribbean is the only developing region that has approached near universal coverage of anti-retroviral medicines to prevent mother-to-child transmission. Some 79 per cent of pregnant women living with HIV now access treatment to prevent passing on the virus. According to the report, the Caribbean leads the world in the rates of its reduction in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths. From 2001 to 2011, there was a 42 per cent decline in the number of the region’s people becoming infected with HIV.
In Guyana, there is a steady decline in the number of new reported cases of HIV infection amongst a significantly higher number of persons coming forward to be tested. Compared to 2010 when there were 1039 new cases of HIV infection, we have seen a decrease to 972 cases in 2011, based on official statistics.
Further, in 2010, 5.8 per cent of babies born to HIV-positive mothers were infected with HIV and this declined to 1.9 per cent in 2011. The number of tuberculosis patients testing positive for HIV also declined from 26 per cent in 2010 to 23.4 in 2011.
Having said the aforementioned, the region, including Guyana, cannot be complacent. In order to sustain the advances made, governments and international donor partners need to put more money and effort toward ensuring that their HIV programmes can be sustained. As advised by UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team Director, Dr Ernest Massiah, more needs to be done to address the prejudice and social inequities that operate to make some people, both more vulnerable to HIV infection and less likely to access prevention, testing, treatment, and care services. Young people, men who have sex with men, and sex workers are among the populations that need targeted investments and more protective environments through a combination of social dialogue, increased tolerance and law reform.