The number of HIV/AIDS patients who receive antiretroviral therapy in Latin America and the Caribbean will grow by at least 40,000 and as much as 100,000 over the next two years under a plan announced by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in December 2003.
Unveiled by PAHO Director Mirta Roses Periago at the 8th World Congress on AIDS and Communicable Sexual Diseases in Punta del Este, Uruguay, the plan aims to reach, by the end of 2005, at least half of those in the region who need but do not yet have access to antiretroviral treatment. Currently, some 196,000 HIVpositive people in Latin America and the Caribbean have access to these drugs, which significantly lengthen and improve the lives of those infected with the virus.
The PAHO plan is part of the World Health Organization's "3 by 5 Initiative," which seeks to get antiretroviral treatment to 3 million HIV-infected people in the developing world by 2005.
PAHO will work with all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to expand access for HIV/AIDS patients to antiretroviral drugs, with a particular focus on providing technical cooperation to the countries that are most in need, including those in Central America and the Caribbean.
PAHO has already played a key role in increasing access to antiretroviral drugs over the last two years by working with its Member States to negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Thanks to regional agreements and country-by-country negotiations, the cost for a year of treatment for an HIV/AIDS patient now ranges from $200 to $1,200, down from an average $5,000 just five years ago.
In addition to treatment, the new regional strategy also focuses on prevention, using an integral approach. "The number of new HIV infections—and the rates of illness and death associated with them—will be significantly reduced as a result of effective prevention, care and integral treatment by the health care system, the community and the family," said Roses on announcing the strategy in December. A special PAHO-coordinated task force met in early January to further elaborate the regional plan.
The key focal areas of the strategy are:
- Mobilizing political commitment and leadership, forming partnerships and promoting community involvement.
- Strengthening of health systems and services.
- Ensuring effective, reliable supplies of antiretroviral medicines, diagnostics and other commodities.
- Linking treatment with prevention.
- Providing strategic information and reapplying lessons learned in treatment and prevention.
The Newsletter of the Pan American Health Organization
