
While Guyana continues to see a decline in new cases of HIV, efforts are being increased to continue to spread awareness about the virus and to encourage young people to engage in safer sex practices.
The Ministry of Health has reported that in 2023, the country recorded 238 new cases of HIV, taking the total number of known HIV cases in the country close to 9000.
Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony at a recent press conference revealed that there are 6,558 persons who are on HIV treatment in the country and efforts are ongoing to encourage others to begin the treatment.
“This year we recorded 238 new cases, which is a decline, and we are happy about that. But we have approximately 9,000 persons, who have been HIV positive, and of those, we have 6,558 persons that are on treatment. And earlier in the year, we installed a viral load machine, so we are now able to do viral loads, and we will see whether or not, the treatment that we are giving people, once they comply, whether they are having viral suppression, which is very important because if we suppress the virus then those persons are not able to transmit the disease.”
Dr. Anthony said work is ongoing by the Health Ministry to ensure more persons are aware of their status, and those who are HIV positive are on treatment to suppress the virus.
“It now shifted a little bit to 95-95-95. The first 95, we have achieved. So, basically, what we have, persons knowing their status, we have achieved that first 95. In terms of the second one, people who are on treatment, I think we are about 80 something percent of the persons who know their status, who are on treatment. So, that needs to go up a little bit more to achieve 95. So, what happens, some people when we diagnosed them, they don’t come in for treatment, because in the early stages, people feel well, they don’t have any [symptoms], so they are not coming for treatment. But we still need to work on that to bring more people into treatment. Viral loads in the past had been a problem for us because we didn’t have viral loads and we had been asking people to do these privately. Now, that we have a viral load machine, that number is going to go up significantly. So, I would imagine all the persons who are on treatment would be able to get their viral loads done and then, we will be able to determine whether they are virally suppressed”.

He said the treatment regimen for HIV has been changed in Guyana, with the most updated treatments being used.
The Health Minister explained that “we are using a regimen with Dolutegravir, which is the most updated treatment regimen that you can have. We have also introduced, PREP – Pre Exposure Prophylaxis) and we want to make sure that that is rolled out to all the different facilities. So, basically, if you believe that you are at risk, you come in we assess you, once you are negative, we can put you on PREP and there are different types of PREP, there are continuous and there are interrupted PREP that we can offer and depending on what suites the person’s lifestyle”.
The Ministry of Health is also encouraging more persons to do self-testing.
Testing kits are being made available for free for home testing. Dr. Anthony said persons who test positive need to visit the Health Ministry or a clinic in their community to begin treatment and begin living a healthier lifestyle.
The number of new HIV cases in Guyana has been fluctuating in recent years.
While some years would see a decline in new cases, other years recorded increases.
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