HIV: Regional governments meet amid major challenges

Health Ministers and top HIV/Aids control officials from the host, Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are meeting in Kigali behind closed doors to review the progress of their activities.

However, delegates from the inter-governmental body are coming with different issues on their minds. The common problem, according to officials here is that, all the countries depend solely on donor funding for their programs, but the funding is drying away as the global economic crisis bites the west. They are increasingly coming under pressure to plan with their own resources.

DR Congo is among six countries singled out by medical charity MSF as experiencing a shortage of much needed antiretroviral medicines. Thousands are also barely receiving much needed treatment as raging war prevents the roll-out of such a program.  

In Burundi, government figures suggest HIV/Aids prevalence has been going up. Prevalence has increased to 4.2% in 2007 from 3.5% in 2002. Government in Bujumbura is still grappling with a whole host of challenges, as the country emerges from years of conflict.  

In Rwanda, despite the major shift that has seen general prevalence drop significantly, infections have increased from 55.1 % to 91.7% among discordant married couples, according to available figures. Among couples living as concubines, infections are said to have rose from 60.3% to 94.2% among irregular partners. The figures prompted government to launch a major campaign in December last year targeting these groups.

Data issued by the Tanzanian government in September last year indicate that the country has an estimated 2.5 million people living with HIV/Aids, with projections showing that deaths could hit 9.5million by 2010. The World Bank says overall, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has the potential to kill at least one-fourth of the country’s entire adult population over the next 15 years, if left unchecked.

Reports from Uganda say the country is seeing infections going up – after a lull over the past 15 years. Campaigners blamed government for keeping the same control plan and message forgetting that the country’s population is evolving.

Reports from Uganda also say the country is running short of stocks of antiretroviral medication following the expiration some drugs.

As for Kenya, the control of the virus seemed to have been on track but all that was thrown into chaos following the 2008 post election violence. Out of an estimated 15,000 with HIV among those displaced, campaigners said a fifth of patients have failed to turn up for treatment.

Without medical supervision not only is there the problem of accessing medication, and getting regular blood tests that hold vital information as to how anti-retroviral drugs are performing, but failure to stick to the complex drug regime increases the likelihood of drug-resistant strains of the disease taking hold.

As trade among the regional countries continues to expand, the challenge has been trying to control a possible infections-boom among the thousands of long-distance truck drivers and their partners. The Great Lakes Initiative on AIDS already has a program targeting this group.  

The objective of the two-day Council of Ministers’ ordinary session will be to provide continuous direction and quality assurance for implementation of overall activities, GLIA said in a statement. They will also review the GLIA annual progress report July 2008 to June 2009, the work plan from July 2009 to December 2010 and discussions on GLIA resource mobilization.

After 3years of implementation, “GLIA is starting to see evidence and adding value to national HIV responses by acting as catalyst for providing HIV and AIDS services to underserved populations including refugees and surrounding area communities, generating and disseminating information on HIV epidemic and responses among mobile and cross border sub populations in the region”, said Dr. Joseph Wakana, Executive Secretary.

Since 2004, the GLIA member states have already harmonized six HIV health protocols relating to antiretroviral treatment, counseling and testing, prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV, management of post exposure prophylaxis, treatment of Tuberculosis and tuberculosis-HIV co infection.