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"Science and Caribbean communities in the response to HIV", this is the theme that brings together health specialists, representatives from fifteen countries from the Caribbean, guests from Switzerland, the United States, Kenya among others, in Pétion-Ville (Haiti), to discuss HIV / AIDS. Representatives of homobaduals, youth, organizations working in the fight against AIDS complete this small picture of a beautiful world.
This symposium follows the big badembly on AIDS that was held in the Netherlands last July. This includes measuring how the Caribbean region can apply the scientific discoveries presented in Amsterdam.
In the region, progress is moderate. Still, there are many people who still do not have access to the care and treatment that their case requires, said in his speech the representative of the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV / AIDS (PANCAP), Singh Shanti.
In Haiti, for its part, the head of the Training Unit GHESKIO centers, Dr. Bernard Liautaud, AIDS remains a major problem. While Haiti has seen progress in prevalence, there is a long way to go. With respect to management, the doctor indicates that the medications used, in some cases, do not respond. Some patients develop drug resistance.
"We know that there are significant problems with resistance to antiretroviral drugs used since 2003. They need to be replaced by a new generation of drugs. There are new measures, new drugs and new prevention techniques like PrEP to consider, "he said.
Dr. Kesner François, head of the PNLS Care and Treatment Unit, says that at the global level, there is talk of introducing new molecules into treatment regimens, especially the first-line treatment regimen. The Caribbean countries like Haiti must follow suit: "We have seen that integrase inhibitors are a clbad of drugs that work in three months. A person may have undetectability, viral suppression in three months, "he explained. Another example of accommodation is protease inhibitors.
For the first day, the discussions also focused on "what can be done to improve retention in care". Several Haitian patients have been found to have discontinued antiretroviral therapy. According to Dr. Francois Kesner, several factors are the causes. The experts took the opportunity to reflect on the solutions to bring.
The implementation of PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis) was not neglected on this first day of the meeting. PrEP protects people who do not use condoms consistently. This prevention strategy developed and approved by scientists consists of giving drugs to people at high risk. This strategy is already being implemented in developed countries. Experts believe that the authorities of the countries of the region must think about it to achieve the 2030 goals.
In the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2.1 million people are living with HIV. Treatment coverage in 2016 was 54% in the region, with 58% in Latin America and 52% in the Caribbean. The number of AIDS-related deaths in the region dropped to 19%. The annual number of new infections among adults remains stable at 120,000 new infections. In Haiti, the prevalence has dropped. It goes from 2.2% to 2%.
Edrid St Just Source Le Nouvelliste
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