Govt. to introduce self-testing for HIV

Jan 07, 2021 News

Launch of new strategic plan…

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony.

Kaieteur News – Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, has announced a plan for Guyanese to self-test for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Dr. Anthony made this disclosure on Tuesday when he launched the new HIV National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2021-2025, which aims to strengthen the national response to HIV/AIDS.
The Minister noted the plan is to bridge past achievements with the objective of ending the disease by 2030.
Dr. Anthony noted that Guyana aims to reach the UNAID 90-90-90 goal, which is to ensure 90 percent of the persons in Guyana know their HIV status, 90 percent of the persons who are living with the virus receive treatment (antiretroviral therapy) and 90 percent of those who receive treatment are virally suppressed.
Minister Anthony said there are many steps along the way towards the elimination of AIDS.
He noted that “We still have a lot of work to be done over the next five years if we are going to reach the target and move beyond that to achieve what we aspire for by 2025… These targets might look like a simple number to achieve, but there is a lot of underlying work to do.”
“Another area we want to look at is self-testing. This is relatively new and it has been advocated around the world and some countries have implemented it with relatively good success and this is one of the areas that, of course, we would like to put in place here in Guyana,” he said.
Dr. Anthony noted the contribution from the various stakeholders which strengthened the plan and made it more comprehensive.
He also acknowledged the challenges and weaknesses over the years, but pointed out the Government’s continued commitment to addressing them and finding new methodologies to ensure that the 2025 target is met.
As such, Minister Anthony says for 2021, the goal is to have a comprehensive (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) PREP programme.
“The objective is to make sure anyone who is at risk can access PREP. Increasing self-testing is another area of focus, as well as reducing the burden of other sexually transmitted infections,” he stressed.
Additionally, Dr. Anthony said that there are plans to submit a proposal to the Global Fund for additional capital to combat HIV.
In the meantime, Health Ministry Consultant, Dereck Springer, during his presentation, recognized the commitment of stakeholders to increase the national response to AIDS. While there have been achievements, he said, there are still numerous challenges which hamper the response, which must be resolved.
Mr. Springer said there continues to be dysfunctional coordination structures, high levels of stigma and discrimination, a weak paper-based monitoring and evaluating system, frequent stock-outs of medication and high dependence on expert human resources in service delivery.
Additionally, Dr. Rhonda Moore, Programme Manager at the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) said that the plan will see Guyana laying the foundation over the next five years to achieve the global commitment of ending AIDS by 2030.