PAHO to Launch Regional HIV/AIDS Plan in El Salvador
Washington, D.C., November 4, 2005 (PAHO)—The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is set to launch a new regional plan on HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections which is designed to improve the health sector's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 2006-2015 period. The plan will be introduced at a series of meetings in El Salvador Nov. 7 to 11.
"HIV in the Americas is a major threat to public health," according to PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses, who notes in the introduction to the plan that "Scaling up efforts to provide comprehensive care for HIV/AIDS, including prevention, have a critical place on the public health agenda at national and international levels. Advancements made today can change the map of the epidemic in the near future and beyond."
According to PAHO figures, a cumulative total of 1,540,414 cases of AIDS have been reported in the Americas, including 30,690 children under 15 years of age. Since 1986, 771,680 people in the Americas have died as a result of AIDS. It is estimated that between 3 and 5 million people are living with HIV in the Americas, and "the spread of the epidemic is increasing. Despite considerable progress in the Region, AIDS continues to threaten the social and economic fabric of society. The data show that HIV is affecting primarily the poor and vulnerable, and that increasingly the burden is falling upon women and youth. There is ample recognition that the risk of HIV is closely intertwined with gender inequality, marginalization, and poverty. High levels of stigma and discrimination throughout the Region and, until recently, the lack of widely available treatment have limited the number of people who have been tested for HIV and as a result, many people who are at high risk of infection still do not know their status," the plan notes.
The official launching of the plan is set Nov. 11 in the San Salvador convention center, and Dr. Roses has scheduled a press conference on the plan Nov. 10 at 4:30 pm in the Radisson Hotel. The Salvador meetings include the Latin American and Caribbean Forum on HIV/AIDS/STI, the IV Central American Congress of STI/HIV/AIDS (CONCASIDA 2005) and the IV Central American Encounter of people living with HIV/AIDS.
The new plan aims to help Latin America and the Caribbean stop and reverse the spread of HIV by 2015, in accordance with goal 6 of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Its aims include:
- Universal access to comprehensive health care services, including prevention and treatment with antiretrovirals by 2010;
- Reduction by half of the number of new HIV infections by 2010, with an additional reduction of 50 percent between 2010 and 2015; and
- Reduction in the incidence of mother to child transmission of HIV at lower levels than the 5 percent for 2015, as well as a reduction of the incidence of congenital syphilis to less than 0.5 cases by 1000 live births.
"The beginning of the 21st Century may be viewed as a turning point in the history of the HIV epidemic," Dr. Roses said. "At this time, with the increasing availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART), the means are at hand to prolong life and alleviate suffering among those infected with HIV. International political commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS is currently at a high pitch."
"PAHO has already demonstrated its support for scaling up comprehensive care in the Region, taking extensive actions to implement the 3 by 5 Initiative and providing technical cooperation to support prevention efforts. The Regional HIV/STI Plan for the Health Sector 2006-2015 is a further step to promote effective prevention and care," she added.
"We are now on the threshold of universal access to treatment and comprehensive care, and have instruments to reach every group with information and communication for behavioral change. We have the tools in hand to open the door and change the face of HIV/AIDS in the Americas. Let us harness the healing power of available knowledge and technologies and make them work for those in our Region who need them most," PAHO's Director said.
Conferences, presentations, workshops, round tables and debates at the Congress and Forum on AIDS are structured around four categories, including basic and clinical sciences, community and social participation, gender, diversity and human rights and Public health and epidemiology.
For details on these events, see www.concasida.org.
PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. It works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of people of the Americas, and serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).
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