After five years and a US$1 million commitment the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is calling Guyana’s Centre of Excellence a success in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Dr Barbara Allen, CDC Country Director for Guyana said, “We can now state with assurance that there is no other place in Guyana that provides the same high level quality of inpatient care for HIV/AIDS infected patients”.
Dr Allen was addressing a small gathering at the closing ceremony of the five-year cooperative project at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) Resource Centre yesterday morning.
She said “it is estimated that there are approximately 6,000 people living with HIV here in Guyana… HIV is an equal opportunity virus; it does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion or social status. Unfortunately though, many of those that are infected with HIV are unaware of their status or they delay care for fear of stigma, discrimination, partner violence or oppressing social issues such as homelessness or substance abuse.”
Allen stated that those suffering from HIV “become increasingly more disabled and vulnerable to opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis and cryptococcal meningitis. Some will die without ever knowing that they are HIV infected and could have been treated. Others will make it to the doors of Georgetown Public Hospital seeking care in the late stages of the disease.”
She said the Centre of Excellence inpatient facility, which is located at the GPH is a combative force in increasing awareness and patient care that is actively working to battle the pervasive HIV.
US Ambassador to Guyana Brent Hardt said the project was initially aimed at scaling up prevention and treatment care in the 15 countries chosen by President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). He said “the emergency plan goals specifically for Guyana were to treat at least 2,000 HIV infected individuals, to care for 9,000 HIV infected individuals including orphans and to prevent at least 14,000 new infections.”
Hardt stated that the project will come to an end with 400 patients being treated annually with antiretrovirals and SOPs that were formalised to ensure confidentiality of patients.
The US Ambassador stated that to “support the response to Guyana’s national HIV/AIDS epidemic through the development of expertise at the national level that could provide the highest level of care and treatment for persons with HIV/AIDS” was the ultimate goal of the Centre of Excellence, while providing for its sustainability.
The centre’s Matron Audrey Corry stated that through a continued partnership, the centre would overcome challenges and provide even better care in the future. She said that “we do have an affiliation with the University of Guyana and there is a lot of research going on, but I think that we can do more in terms of HIV and AIDS care and treatment… to help improve the care we deliver to patients.”
She added: “I think we can benefit from training I think that training is the catapult. We need people with knowledge and skills and the right attitude to deliver the care that we need to deliver to our patients and we will see the difference in time to come.”
Corry stated that training was an evolving process that both patients and staff benefited from. She stated that the $200,000 annual funding from the CDC was utilised to purchase equipment and in the original reconstruction of the current inpatient facility.
In March, the Diamond drug storage facility was officially commissioned. The facility was also partially funded through PEPFAR to house not only non specific drugs but also HIV-related products and essential medicines.
