Guyana better equipped to reduce spread HIV/AIDS – Anthony

The government through the Health Ministry has made significant strides towards closing gaps associated with access of treatment and care for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS).
This is according to Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, who contends that Guyana is on the trajectory to eliminate HIV/AIDS as a public health concern by 2030.
During a panel discussion dubbed ‘Ending AIDS’ it was revealed that the world has the requisite technologies and tools needed to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, and Guyana is among many countries with this capability.
Dr Anthony said that among the measures being advanced is the introduction of the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), which will reduce the risk of infection in persons who have been exposed to the deadly virus.
Other tools include the ability to conduct mass testing, provide immediate treatment, engage people in treatment and prevention programmes, spearhead condom distributions, and re-enforce sexual education in the school system, while encouraging more persons to get tested for the disease.
Dr Anthony added that political willpower is also in alignment with the need to eliminate the legal and social stigma associated with the disease, so more persons can feel safe to be treated.
“It looks like an advance for us because we’re now introducing them but these techniques have been around for quite some time and we have seen how they work in other places and we feel by adding these newer techniques plus more traditional ones that we can have an impact,” the minister said.
Further, he noted that based on the 95-95-95 targets set by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, in Guyana, 94 per cent of HIV-positive persons know their status, 76 per cent of those diagnosed are receiving antiretroviral treatment and 28 per cent of those diagnosed have achieved viral suppression.
On this point, he added that HIV/AIDS treatment and care for migrants is available in Guyana, however, due to the language barrier there have been some challenges with reaching that population.
“In our country we do have some challenges with migrants and we have offered the same services we offer to our population; we have made that available to the migrant population… I know with the NAPS programme they see hot spots in different areas and in those areas, we have intensified our activities. So, hopefully we wouldn’t see too much flaring up in terms of cases but that we can address the issues as there evolving,” Dr. Anthony added.
In an effort to address this, the ministry will be spearheading bilingual outreaches in communities where migrant populations are high.

238 new HIV cases
The health minister reported that in 2023, the country recorded 238 new cases of HIV, taking the total number of known HIV cases in the country close to 9000.
During a press conference early January, Dr Anthony revealed that there are 6,558 persons who are on HIV treatment in the country and efforts are ongoing to encourage others to begin the treatment.
“This year we recorded 238 new cases, which is a decline, and we are happy about that. But we have approximately 9,000 persons, who have been HIV positive, and of those, we have 6,558 persons that are on treatment. And earlier in the year, we installed a viral load machine, so we are now able to do viral loads, and we will see whether or not, the treatment that we are giving people, once they comply, whether they are having viral suppression, which is very important because if we suppress the virus then those persons are not able to transmit the disease,” the health minister had explained.
He had said work is ongoing by the health ministry to ensure more persons are aware of their status, and those who are HIV positive are on treatment to suppress the virus.
“It now shifted a little bit to 95-95-95. The first 95, we have achieved. So, basically, what we have, persons knowing their status, we have achieved that first 95. In terms of the second one, people who are on treatment, I think we are about 80 something percent of the persons who know their status, who are on treatment. So, that needs to go up a little bit more to achieve 95. So, what happens, some people when we diagnosed them, they don’t come in for treatment, because in the early stages, people feel well, they don’t have any [symptoms], so they are not coming for treatment. But we still need to work on that to bring more people into treatment. Viral loads in the past had been a problem for us because we didn’t have viral loads and we had been asking people to do these privately. Now, that we have a viral load machine, that number is going to go up significantly. So, I would imagine all the persons who are on treatment would be able to get their viral loads done and then, we will be able to determine whether they are virally suppressed,” Dr. Anthony added.
The ministry is also encouraging more persons to do self-testing.
Testing kits are being made available for free for home testing. Dr. Anthony said persons who test positive need to visit the Health Ministry or a clinic in their community to begin treatment and begin living a healthier lifestyle. (G2)