Caribbean records decline in mother-to-child transmission of HIV

Although Guyana has seen an increase in HIV cases during last year, Director of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), Michael Springer, during a two-day faith leaders’ consultation, indicated that the Caribbean has seen an overall reduction in the transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) from mother-to-child during 2017.
Not only was the Caribbean able to record a reduction, but seven countries were also able to completely eliminate mother-to-child transmission.
“We have also seen in terms of a reduction in mother-to-child transmission of HIV across the board (Caribbean) in our region. In fact, seven of our countries have eliminated both mother-to-child transmission and transmission of congenital syphilis,” he said.
It was understood that this major achievement was made possible through various regional efforts, which include the reduction in treatment costs from as much as US$12,000 to US $100.
“Our Region through collective actions was able to see a significant reduction in the price for antiretroviral; that is the treatment for HIV because in 2002, our Region took a collective decision to advocate to fight pharmaceutical companies to ensure that the cost for antiretroviral was reduced from some US$12,000 a year to US$1000 per year and now we can say that that treatment for the first time is below US$100 per year,” Springer informed.
In addition to this, the Director noted, “We have also seen a significant scale up when in 2001 we had just five per cent of persons who required treatment, receiving treatment for HIV. When we look at the last UN (United Nations) AIDS report, we now have about 57 per cent of those persons who know their HIV status and who should be on treatment (and) who are on treatment at the moment”.
At the event, Minister within the Public Health Ministry, Dr Karen Cummings said there are many gaps in AIDS response which deserve attention.
She said, “There are still major gaps in the AIDS response and then they are barriers that still stop people from accessing quality healthcare services. Too often stigma and discrimination prevent people from accessing the much-needed health care… this situation needs to be promptly addressed in order to ensure that equitable and equal access to treatment is universal among those living with HIV”.
The Minister went on to encourage the use of treatment as she noted that HIV and AIDS is not a death sentence.
“HIV is no longer a death sentence. When the HIV outbreak first began, most individuals developed in about eight to 10 years and once persons were diagnosed with AIDS, he or she had a two-year life expectancy…HIV is no longer a terminal illness; we describe it as a chronic, manageable disease,” Cummings added.
The Health Minister took the opportunity to encourage religious leaders to continue working together as they seek to develop solutions to reduce the spread of the virus.
The two-day consultation with Guyana’s national faith leaders concluded on Friday.
The initiative is part of a series of engagements with faith leaders in Guyana under the PANCAP Justice For All (JFA) programme.
Over the two-day session, the 40 participants will propose solutions for resolving the challenges in developing a viable faith leaders network and focus on how and what can be done to end AIDS by 2030.