GEORGETOWN: UNAIDS Country Coordinator Roberto Campos said one of the major challenges Guyana faces in achieving Millennium Development Goal Six – combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases is the need for the country to inject more local funds.
He made this observation at a special programme titled “MDG Momentum – 1000 Days of Action” hosted by United Nations Resident Coordinator Khadija Musa and the UN country team in Guyana on Thursday, at Georgetown Club.
Campos noted that while the country has made significant progress in striving to meet MD Six, all of the funds utilised to make these achievements possible are coming from international sources. “This is a challenge for the near future… we need to re-establish partnerships and leverage domestic funds for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in the country.”
He noted that another challenge is fighting stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS, stating that this needs to be addressed. He reported that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the general population is 1.3 per cent, adding that the figures are much higher among high-risk populations. “It’s around 16 per cent among sex workers, 19 per cent among homosexuals and six per cent among miners.”
Accessibility
Dr Campos said another major concern is hinterland areas and migrant people, adding that the country must look at scaling up accessibility to treatment in these areas to prevent the spread of the disease. He said Guyana also needed to place heavy emphasis on the most vulnerable population – youths – to prevent more infections in the future.
Globally, countries are on track to accomplish this goal. Reports disclose that infection among children has dropped worldwide. Currently, 9.7 million people are on anti-retroviral treatment around the world.
In Guyana, 87 per cent of HIV-infected persons are receiving anti-retroviral treatment, while 89 per cent of mothers are in the mother-to-child transmission prevention programme. “This prevalence dropped to about 1.3 per cent in 2012, it means that Guyana is one of 10 countries in the world, which achieved the universal access for treatment and Guyana is on track to eliminate HIV child infection in 2015,” Campos declared.
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