75 healthcare professionals better equipped to manage HIV/AIDS patients

Some 75 healthcare professionals are now better equipped to deal with persons living with HIV/AIDS following their graduation from an intense Clinical Management of HIV programme.
These persons received their certificates on Friday during a ceremony at the Health Ministry’s Conference Room, Brickdam, Georgetown.
The initiative is a collaboration between the Pan Caribbean Partnership (PANCAP) and the Ministry which was established by a Declaration of Caricom Heads of Government on February 14, 2001.
It forms part of a comprehensive approach to combat the HIV epidemic in the Caribbean and to eliminate AIDS by 2030.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, Adrienne Galanek highlighted the progress that the PANCAP has made in combating the HIV epidemic in the Caribbean.
The US envoy noted that there has been a 50 per cent reduction in HIV cases across the Region while underscoring the United States’ commitment to developing the medical landscape in Guyana.

According to Galanek, the US Government, over the past 20 years, pumped a total of US$189 million into aiding HIV prevention and treatment in Guyana.
During his presentation, subject Minister, Dr Frank Anthony stated that there has been a substantial change in the way that HIV cases are managed.
“I remember those days when you diagnose someone with HIV, sometimes not even AIDS, which is the end stage; there was basically no hope… [now] this is basically a chronic disease and once you take your meds, you are going to be okay and that (in) itself means we have come a far way.”
Similarly, the Minister noted that up to a year ago, the Ministry was unable to do viral loads: “We have invested close to half a million US dollars to ensure we have the right type of viral load machines so that any one of our patients that we need to track their viral loads, we can now do it for free and that is remarkable… all those patients now have the medication that they need and now all that we have to do is scale this up and ensure that it’s available across the country.”
Dr Anthony also noted that over the past two years, $300 million was designated to each region but in 2024, that has gone up to $500 million to further enhance the healthcare environment within every region.
Over the past years, a total of 2000 individuals have been trained through PANCAP, with 499 students –the majority Guyanese – graduating from the Clinical Management of HIV programme.