[ad_1]
French.china.org.cn | Updated on the 27-11-2018
The West African Health Organization (WAHO) held a regional meeting of national HIV / AIDS programs in member countries of the Economic Community of West African States Tuesday (Lomé, Togo) ( ECOWAS).
It aims to review the progress made three years after the adoption of the Dakar Declaration on the consideration of key populations in the response to HIV / AIDS in the ECOWAS region, to identify successes, obstacles, lessons learned and the priority actions needed at national and regional level to accelerate progress towards the goals.
According to Marie Engel, UNAIDS regional office representative in West and Central Africa, ECOWAS countries are experiencing recurring episodes of epidemic-prone diseases and more frequent health crises, in addition to the heavy burden of malaria. , HIV and tuberculosis.
"With 6.1 million people living with HIV (PLHIV) in 2017, West and Central Africa is the second-largest region in the world with the highest number of PLHIV after Eastern and Southern Africa (19). , 6 million), "she said.
Engel said HIV prevalence in West Africa ranged from 0.3% in Niger to 3.4% in Guinea-Bissau in 2017. However, it is 5 to 10 times higher in key populations. than at the level of the general population. "For example, among bad workers, the rate is between 5.4% in Burkina Faso and 24.3% in The Gambia," she continued.
For the Secretary General of the Togolese Ministry of Health, Awoussi Sossinou, the HIV epidemic is concentrated in West and Central Africa among key and vulnerable populations. He said that four out of every ten new cases of HIV infection in the region come from key populations and their partners.
"In 2016, the African Union and ECOWAS political leaders endorsed West and Central Africa's 'catch-up' plan, which aims to eliminate bottlenecks in the transition to scale and accelerate their respective national responses and reach a trajectory to achieve the 90-90-90 targets by 2020, "he concluded.
These "90-90-90" goals aim to have 90% of infected people knowing their status, 90% on antiretroviral therapy and 90% with undetectable viral load.
Adopted in 2015, the Dakar Declaration includes four commitments: strengthening strategic information, strengthening health systems, strengthening community services, and addressing stigma and discrimination.
<! – enpproperty
[ad_2]
Source link
