Government has allocated $931 million for the switching out of some of the older antiretroviral (ARV) medications used to treat persons living with HIV/AIDS, according to Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony.
Anthony recently relayed the information during the consideration of the 2022 estimates by the Parliamentary Committee of Supply.
He told the Committee that the government is switching out some of the ARVs and replacing them with newer and more effective drugs. Additionally, it is changing the algorithm for the dispensing of those drugs. The entire upgrade is said to be more costly hence the increase in the allocation for the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS).
An additional $15.5 million has been allocated for the training of primary care physicians to use the new algorithm to better treat patients. The Minister added that the training would also include introducing doctors to delivering PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) which is a new medicine to prevent the contraction of HIV as well as PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) which is used after someone may have been exposed to the virus.
“Some of these things that are here for NAPS these are the types of training we’d be doing. Included in that training (is) self-testing so if somebody believes that they are HIV+ instead of coming to one of the clinics to get tested, they can get a home kit and test themselves at home. The people who would be making these kits available and then talking to some of these patients having tested to come into the clinic, you have to be able to train them to explain to people how to use these kits,” Dr Anthony said.
Back in November last year, Programme Manager of the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) Dr Tariq Jagnarine had said that Guyana would launch a pilot self-testing project at four locations in Region Four.
Dr Jagnarine had said Guyana’s HIV prevalence over the past five years has been very constant at 1.4% and while this is good, if the country wants to eliminate HIV by 2030, which is guided by the National Strategic Plan, it has to be reduced to less than 0.5%.
In 2020, some 82 people died as a result of AIDS-related illnesses.
Last year, the government also introduced PrEP in the community clinics as part of its drive to further decrease the transmission of HIV.
