Health Ministry starts rollout of HIV self-testing

…$931M allocated for new ARVs

The Health Ministry has commenced the rollout of self-testing for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), setting the stage for a faster detection rate among the population.

The HIV self-testing mechanism has been touted by health authorities in recent time and President Irfaan Ali had announced Government’s intention to get this service offered last month.
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony shared during Thursday’s Consideration of Estimates and Expenditure in the National Assembly that Guyanese can now self-test for the virus.
“We started rolling out what is called self-testing. If somebody believes that they’re HIV-positive, instead of coming to one of the clinics to get tested, they can get a home kit and test themselves at home,” said the Minister, while fielding questions from Opposition Member of Parliament, Dr Karen Cummings.
The World Health Organisation recommends HIV self-testing as a safe, accurate and effective way to reach people who may not test otherwise, including people from key populations.
As of 2021, statistics showed that 9022 persons in Guyana were diagnosed with HIV, while 6573 persons are on treatment, and 4052 are virally suppressed. For that year, only 71 are new cases reported for the year.
This year, a whopping $73.2 billion has been approved for the Health Ministry. From the $4.1 billion allocated in the 2022 budget for medicine and drug supplies, $931 million will be used for the procurement of new antiretrovirals (ARVs) for the Ministry to treat HIV patients.
“In this particular programme, we are switching out some of the old ARVs that we are using. We have a new algorithm that we will be using now for our patients. This involves new drugs and they’re a little more costly. So, we have allocated $931 million for that particular expenditure,” he told the House.
For the National Aids Programme Secretariat (NAPS), $15.5 million will be used for training of doctors to use the new medications; and usage of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).
“We want to make sure that most of our primary care doctors are able to do PrEP and also PEP. If somebody has been exposed to HIV, that they can get treatment readily. These are the types of training that we will be doing.”
Included in the drugs expenditure is $776 million for testing at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory, $523 million for the Health Emergency Operations Centre for COVID, $328 million for the development of a malaria laboratory, $208 million for tuberculosis response, and $689 million for the valuation leg of the filaria campaign through the Pan American Health Organisation.
Meanwhile, $863 million was also allocated for medical assistance to persons suffering from varying illnesses.
In addition, $1.1 billion is being injected for the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, under this heading, specifically for oxygen, PPEs, medications and other supplies.

Medical assistance
The Health Minister shared that over 1500 persons benefitted from assistance in 2021 for treatment of their respective illnesses. This time around, an increase of $399 million has been injected to cover such expenses.
This follows a breakdown of $400 million for patients who need cardiac interventions, $60 million for CAT scans and MRIs, $70 million for radiation therapy, $18 million for cross matching before renal transplants, $20 million for specialised eye care or operations and $12 million for patients needing prosthetics.
A projected $180 million has already been earmarked to fulfil the $600,000 per year grant to dialysis patients. Another $103 million was approved to offset expenses associated with overseas treatment.
“This heading has been beneficial to a lot of people. In 2021, we were able to help with the allocations that we were given, 1538 persons and this number is expected to grow during this year,” the Minister detailed.
In response, MP Cummings relayed, “It’s commendable and I’m happy that you increased it. There are still persons who are vulnerable and poor.” (G12)