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Apr 28, 2011 News
“The dollar must procure more than it is today. We have to learn, like we have learnt in other areas, to get more for a single dollar than others are getting,” said Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy.
The Minister was at the time addressing a gathering of stakeholders involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown.
According to the Minister getting more for the dollar is in fact not an easy task and therefore some of the health sector successes will depend “not only on ourselves but also on what is happening globally.”
He underscored that the reality is that unless technology such as the microbicide (any compound or substance with a purpose to reduce the infectivity of microbes, such as viruses or bacteria) and vaccines become available the world in deed will have a major challenge to face.
“I am not certain that in the face of climate change; in the face of a real calamity facing us in terms of diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases and so on that we can continue diverting as much of the resources to HIV and yet we need to spend even more in the fight against HIV.”
“How do we do that will be a major challenge and so the challenge here is not to find ways how to move money out of HIV but the challenge is how to ensure that the cost does not further escalate so that as resources become more available in our country we will have similar kinds of commitments to the other public health challenges that face us.
My appeal globally is that we have to do a better job at getting more technology available and that is one way to reduce the cost for HIV globally,” Minister Ramsammy insisted.
He pointed out that if the local health sector is going to have any chance at all at preventing escalating costs then HIV has to be mainstreamed.
HIV, he said, must be part of the health system strengthening and therefore the health sector cannot continue to have parallel programmes in order to develop supply chains for HIV.
“We need to develop supply chains for the health sector. We cannot develop information systems for HIV, but we have to develop a health information system that caters for HIV as well.”
In addition Minister Ramsammy noted that measures cannot only be made to develop laboratories for HIV but also to develop laboratory systems for health mainstreaming and strengthening of the health sector.
It was at that very forum that the Minister revealed that in the year 1989 about US$200m per year was expended among developing countries, an amount which had slightly increased to $250M a year in 1996.
However by last year this sum had increased phenomenally to $10B per year. “Most of that mobilization had started around 2003.
We recognize the impact of the World Bank Map (Multi-Country HIV/AIDS) Programme and it was in 2003 that PEPFAR also came on board…it was the biggest investment for any public health response in the history of the world,” Minister Ramsammy acknowledged.
With the introduction of PEPFAR, the Minister revealed that close to US$18B was committed to the fight against HIV/AIDS, an amount which has since increased substantially.
“When PEPFAR came on board in 2003 it was the biggest investment for any public health response in the history of the world. As we all know over the years it has increased and at this point I think it is about US$60B over the life of this programme…and then global fund also entered since then UNITAID, the Clinton Foundation, and stuck between MAP and PEPFAR, I should not forget the incredible philanthropic work of Bill and Melinda Gates.”
The findings of the HIV/AIDS Programme Sustainability Analysis Tool (HAPSAT) which was funded by USAID, has revealed that universal access has been achieved in many of the key HIV series, including antiretroviral treatment (ART), prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV treatment, support for orphans and vulnerable children, blood screening, HIV/Tuberculosis treatment as well as comprehensive care and support for people living with HIV.
It has been deduced too that there is a need to ensure that the high levels of coverage are maintained. Additionally, it has been noted that the ART programme is estimated to cost US$8M this year, decreasing to between US$5.4M to US$5.8M in 2011 through 2015.
The annual cost for maintaining universal access to PMTCT treatment will be between US$69, 300 and US$81,000 in 2011 through 2015.
The HAPSAT also speaks to the provision of HIV testing and counseling to populations at higher risk and HIV counseling and testing to all pregnant women and blood donors with an annual cost ranging between US$603, 000 and US$691, 00 from 2011 through 2015.
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