Guyana’s First Lady, Sandra Granger utilized the opportunity at an international health forum on Wednesday to push for greater attention to be placed on mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
The forum was the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where she chaired one of the plenary discussions.
The First Lady, in her opening remarks highlighted that the response to HIV has been ongoing for the past 30 years with advances made that allow anyone on treatment to live a normal, healthy life.
She lauded the efforts of doctors, research scientists and medical practitioners who have committed their lives to working on breakthroughs in HIV treatment.
Ms. Granger said that these individuals have helped bring about the medical advances necessary for those living with HIV. She was keen to note, however, that those advances must continue until there is a cure.
At the end of 2017, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that there were approximately 36.9 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS. While the global prevalence of HIV is 0.8 per cent, Guyana has a prevalence of 1.4 per cent – 1 percent down from 2004.
As such, Ms. Granger urged that these advances in treatment must continue until there is a vaccine which can cure HIV.
She shared too, that for people living with HIV, antiretroviral (ARVs) have transformed HIV from a deadly disease to a manageable one, pointing to the Caribbean as a point of reference.
“We have seen how in the Caribbean, access to treatment has ensured that several of the states has been certified as eliminating the transmission from mother to child” she added.
Prevalence of HIV remains high in the Caribbean with countries such as Bahamas, Haiti, Belize and Jamaica having a higher prevalence rate than Guyana, as was revealed in a 2016 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) adult H.I.V prevalence report.
Ms. Granger reminded the experts that efforts like these must continue to significantly dent mother-to-child transmission, which will lead to an overall reduction in HIV.
As Vice Chair of the Spouses of CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Leaders Action Network (SCLAN), pursuing a reduction in mother-to-child HIV transmission aligns with her duties.
At the international forum too, the First Lady utilized her participation at AIDS 2018 to highlight the pillars of SCLAN, which in addition to mother-to-child transmission, also include reducing adolescent pregnancies, violence against women and girls and cervical cancer.
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