A new report, ‘Knowledge is Power’, has revealed that an estimated
9.4 million people who are infected with HIV are not aware they are
carriers of the virus.
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According to the report, released by UNAIDS, 75 per cent of all
people living with HIV or 27 million people, know their HIV status.
The report called for increased efforts to reach the 9.4 million
people living with HIV who are not aware that they are living with the
virus and the estimated 19.4 million people living with HIV who do not
have a suppressed viral load.
The new report from UNAIDS showed that intensified HIV testing and treatment efforts were reaching more people living with HIV.
To remain healthy and to prevent transmission, the HIV virus needs to
be suppressed to undetectable or very low levels through sustained
antiretroviral therapy.
According to the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Dr Michel Sidibé, to
effectively monitor viral load, people living with HIV need access to
viral load testing every 12 months.
“Viral load testing is the gold standard in HIV treatment monitoring.
It shows that treatment is working, keeping people alive and well and
keeping the virus firmly under control,” Sidibé said.
The report outlined that access to viral load testing was mixed; in
some parts of the world, getting a viral load test is easy and fully
integrated into a person’s HIV treatment regime, while in others, there
may be only one viral load machine for the entire country.
Sidibé stressed: “Viral load monitoring needs to be as available in Lilongwe as it is in London.
“HIV testing and viral load testing should be equal and accessible to all people living with HIV, without exception”.
The report showed that one of the biggest barriers to HIV testing was stigma and discrimination.
Studies among women, men, young people and key populations revealed
that fear of being seen accessing HIV services, and if the person is
diagnosed, fear that this information would be shared with family,
friends, sexual partners or the wider community, was preventing them
from accessing HIV services, including HIV testing.
According to UNAIDS, however, access to HIV testing is a basic human
right, and the UN HIV/AIDS agency said it was calling for a global
commitment to remove the barriers preventing people from testing for
HIV.
The barriers include eliminating HIV-related stigma and
discrimination, ensuring confidentiality in HIV testing and treatment
services, and deploying an optimal mix of HIV testing strategies to
reach the populations most in need.
Others are integration with other health services, removing policy
and legal barriers hindering access to HIV testing and treatment,
expanding access to viral load monitoring in low- and middle-income
countries and ensuring access to early infant diagnosis for newborns.
The report demonstrated that implementing these measures would hugely
advance progress towards ensuring that all people living with and
affected by HIV have access to the life-saving services they need.
NAN
