The pandemic turned all efforts to their side and other important issues, such as the control and detection of HIV/AIDS, were left on the way. For example, testing kits for people with HIV in treatment were used to test for COVID-19.
PANAMA. The concentration of public resources to face the pandemic COVID-19 in Latin America caused a neglect of the prevention and treatment programs of the HIV AIDS and the stigma towards this population intensified, officials and patients affirmed at a forum held in Panama.
At the meeting, organized by the Positive Leadership Alliance (ALEP) and Key Populations, participants denounced the “neglect” and “poor responses” of the State to HIV by COVID-19, and they demanded that the matter be placed on their agenda since it is causing a “severe affectation” in the population.
They also pointed out that the allocation of more resources directed preferentially to the pandemic, in addition to hindering access to antiretroviral treatments (ART), has led to a reduction in the detection of cases of the virus of human immunodeficiency (HIV).
Testing kits were used for people with HIV
A study of ALEP of 2020, identified that 59.8% of the population with HIV interviewee could not participate in the adherence programs to her antiretrovirals by pandemic, which triggers “serious health complications and can increase mortality rates.”
“We have had a gap not only in the number of tests to detect new cases of HIV, but also in the delivery of medicines and in carrying out the necessary tests,” said Panamanian Yari Campos, from the Positive Women’s Movement with HIV AIDS.
According to Campos, what has happened is that the teams for the testing of viral load and CD4 (lymphocyte count), to determine the health of people with HIV in treatment, were used to test COVID-19.
Spending Efficiency
investment to combat HIV and prevent AIDS directly influences the quality of life of patients, 79.9% of whom receive treatment with antiretrovirals in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Peru, according to an ALEP study.
But that 79.9% is below the 90% of commitment 1 of the 90-90-90 goals for 2020 promoted by Onusida, according to the study, which highlights that receiving antiretroviral treatment “is one of the rights of people with HIV which must be guaranteed by the States”.
Alejandra Corao, adviser to the UNAIDS Regional Office in Panama, acknowledged that the 90-90-90 objectives “should have been achieved in 2020 and they were not achieved; and not just for him covid, We were already in bad shape” for being “delayed with global data in Latin America.”
“We no longer reached the 90-90-90 goal for 2020, however Onusida always seeks to look ahead, and now we have the 95-95-95 for the year 2025,” he said. EFE
