HIV Epidemic Control Is Close —But Can We Sustain it?

By Esther Tumbare, Senior global technical director for HIV ; Olive Apok, Cluster Technical Manager A health worker explains medication for a client at an HIV clinic at Escuintla Regional Hospital. Photo by Anna Watts for IntraHealth International.November 30, 2022This summer, we celebrated Botswana for being the first country in Africa with a high HIV burden to attain theUNAIDS 95/95/95 targets for 2030. PEPFAR also announced that at least 12 African countries have reached the 2020 90/90/90 targets.Considering there was a time when many thought Africans were incapable of adhering to antiretroviral treatment, these accomplishments are indeed impressive.Attaining 90/90/90 targets is a great achievement, but as HIV advocates, what we truly strive for is global epidemic control.PEPFAR defines this as the point at which the total number of new HIV infections falls below the total number of deaths from all causes among HIV-infected individuals.And while we are close (nine high-burden countries have reached this point), more work is needed—work to reach global epidemic control, to sustain it, to identify remaining cases (particularly among children, adolescent girls, young women, and key populations), and to help those who are infected get and adhere to treatment to stop new infections.So who will be doing much of this work?It all comes down to the health worker.Health workers are at the core of the work that has brought us this far. Community health workers in partic...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: HIV & AIDS World AIDS Day Source Type: news