Georgetown: The third phase of the National Aids Programme Secretariat’s (NAPS) Biological and Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BBSS) has been deemed the most successful since the pilot survey commenced in 2013.
A meeting held at Cara Lodge today, saw a wide stakeholder group, comprising Coordinators of the National HIV/AIDS Programme, representatives from Civil Society groups, members of the key populations, International technical agencies, external funding partners and other stakeholders, being presented with the results of the survey.
The meeting was aimed also at identifying ways to deal with the situation as it relates to gaps and the way forward.
Compared to the previous studies this BBSS has had a greater appreciation of the transgender population and a more in-depth approach towards indentifying gaps in this regard.
The project covered nine of the country’s ten administrative regions of which 1233 persons were for the first time tested for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). In addition, the survey which was conducted in two phases; the Hinterland and Coastland Phases also saw individuals undergoing malaria, Anemia, Syphilis and Hepatitis B testing.
The objective of the project was to estimate the prevalence of infections and HIV prevention programmes in the identified areas. The goal was to better understand the level of HIV education and to gather information on persons’ behaviour towards the said topic and the utilisation of the level of education that is available to them.
The Hinterland aspect focused on logging and mining sites while the Coastal aspect emphasised on the towns and the more popular social spots where sexual activities were more prevalent. One Neighbourhood Democratic Council in each region was also chosen to be a part of this survey.
Speaking at the dissemination meeting today, NAPS Director Dr. Shanti Singh pointed out that overall 196 sites were indentified in the Hinterland while 751 on the Coastland, bringing the total figure to 947 sites being identified.
A total of 3804 interviews were conducted with persons who were more familiar with the areas such as bar owners and workers, miners, taxi drivers and other such individuals who were able to identify the regular spots. These venues were then compared and the ones that were popular or mentioned by several interviewees were chosen.
In terms of locations, informal bars have been identified as the most popular spot for persons to meet sex partners or to engage with potential sex partners. This was recorded to be 43.5%. Dr. Singh noted that the survey shows of all the locations identified 44.5% offer free condoms while 27.1% have them on sale. It was also noted that most of the areas saw persons between the ages 15-16 being sexually active and in the male population the age range was lower in some areas.
In terms of HIV prevalence, the project saw 3663 tests being conducted of which 65 cases were positive. In the area of Sexually Transmitted Infections/Diseases (STIs/STDs), 21 out of 3011 Syphilis tests were positive, while 2 out of 271 Hepatitis B cases were also positive. With respect to Anemia 1,006 out 3804 cases were positive and were noted to be found mostly in females, primarily sex workers. In addition, 1047 Malaria tests were conducted in the Hinterland phase which resulted in 15 positive cases.
Field work in the Hinterland phase was conducted at Landings in Regions 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, and 10. Data collection commenced in December 2013 and concluded in October this year.
This survey methodology has also allowed for Guyana to collect data which will assist the country in estimating the size of the sex worker and men who have sex with men populations.
The project is funded by a number of agencies including the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) among others.
The meeting also saw brief remarks from representative of the USAID, Dr. Oleksander Cherkas who said that this survey has thus far been the most successful one.
Also delivering brief remarks to the gathering of health care workers from various agencies and regions was Health Ministry’s Deputy Permanent Secretary (DPS), Trevor Thomas, who lauded the efforts by NAPS and the teams that worked on the project. He also pointed out that there has been a lot of improvement in the area of HIV and stigma as persons are now more open to speaking of the disease.
In addition, he noted that this project goes hand in hand with numerous plans that the Ministry has on board for the national health sector.
The project was also lauded by representative of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), Dr. Brigit Lampe who encouraged the continuation of works in this regard. She said “let us all continue to strive for an AIDS free Guyana.”
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