Source: healthpolicy-watch.org<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization has issued new HIV testing recommendations to help countries expand treatment coverage and reach the estimated 8.1 million people living with HIV who have not yet been diagnosed. The WHO guidelines were released on Wednesday ahead of\u00a0World AIDS Day\u00a0on December 1 and the\u00a0International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA2019), which will take place in Kigali, Rwanda on December 2-7.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe face of the HIV epidemic has changed dramatically over the past decade,\u201d said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a\u00a0press release. \u201cMore people are receiving treatment than ever before, but too many are still not getting the help they need because they have not been diagnosed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The launch of the WHO guidelines comes right on the heels of a UNAIDS report published Wednesday that highlighted mixed success in tackling the HIV\/AIDS epidemic. Access to HIV treatment has expanded and new HIV infections have declined by 28% from 2010 to 2018 in eastern and southern Africa, the region most affected by HIV, but women and girls are still disproportionately affected. Four out of five new HIV infections among adolescents in the Sub-Saharan Africa region occur in girls. Additionally, new HIV infections are increasing in eastern Europe, central Asia, northern Africa, and parts of Latin America.<\/p>\n
WHO estimates that at the end of 2018, there were 36.7 million people with HIV worldwide. Of these, 21% have not yet been diagnosed. Expanding testing for HIV helps ensure that people are diagnosed early and can start treatment. Testing also helps identify people who are HIV-negative but may be at high risk for contracting the infection and link them to appropriate and effect prevention services.<\/p>\n
Both publications highlight that key populations such as injecting drug users, sex workers, transgender people and prison populations are at higher risk of testing positive for HIV, but may be less engaged in HIV decision-making and have less access to healthcare services. Additionally, in countries where high proportions of people have already been tested and treated, it can be difficult to reach the remaining proportion of people living with HIV who have not yet been tested, according to WHO.<\/p>\n
The new \u201cWHO consolidated guidelines on HIV testing services\u201d recommends strategies for expanding a package of HIV-related services to those hardest to reach including:<\/p>\n
The UNAIDS report,\u00a0Power to the People, found that significant progress has been made in expanding access to treatment, with an estimated 24.5 million people with HIV accessing anti-retroviral drugs and other therapies. However, progress to slow HIV transmission has stalled, and an estimated 1.7 million people were newly infected with the virus in 2018.<\/p>\n
In Eastern and Southern Africa, the hot spots of the global HIV\/AIDS epidemic, new infections declined by 28% between 2010 and 2018. However, outside of eastern and southern Africa, new HIV infections have declined by only 4% since 2010. Of concern is the rise of new HIV infections in certain regions. The annual number of new HIV infections rose by 29% in eastern Europe and central Asia, by 10% in the Middle East and North Africa and by 7% in Latin America. the report notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn many parts of the world, significant progress has been made in reducing new HIV infections, reducing AIDS-related deaths and reducing discrimination, especially in eastern and southern Africa, but gender inequality and denial of human rights are leaving many people behind,\u201d said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS in a\u00a0press release.<\/p>\n
The report aims to highlight the importance of including people and communities affected by HIV in HIV service delivery and policy-making. Specifically, stigma and discrimination can still prevent people from seeking knowledge on how to prevent HIV transmission, or accessing diagnosis and treatment.\u00a0 But when people living with HIV are empowered, these barriers are more frequently overcome. Specifically, the report notes four areas of empowerment for programmes to target:<\/p>\n