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Community-based approaches are essential to reach 14 million people in Africa who still don\u2019t have access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART), said UNAIDS Director Michel Sidib\u00e9.<\/p>\n
In a compelling address during a UNAIDS session at ICASA on 9 November about scaling up treatment coverage, Sidib\u00e9 made it clear that rollout was not just about distributing pills but about life, dignity and human rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have 14 million people waiting,\u201d Sidib\u00e9 told the high-level session that included the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and TB and PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) on the panel. \u201cWe can\u2019t afford to let them down. Access to treatment is a human right and not just a matter of giving pills to people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sidib\u00e9 said treatment had to reach people where they were \u2013 which is not in reality as obvious as it sounds. He urged key decision-makers to view AIDS treatment as a means of revolutionising the continent\u2019s health systems and to turn to community models of care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is critical to reach people not reached today by our services. We cannot end AIDS if we do not bring such people to the centre of our approach,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not only an issue of treatment but of transforming our health approach, of seeing how we can use our community health workers to simplify things and reach people where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Sidib\u00e9, the shift towards the community is imperative \u2013 otherwise \u201cwe\u2019ll never reach the 14 million\u201d \u2013 and must be matched by innovation in the technical sphere to produce user-friendly equipment. \u201cWe need to democratize access to tools, going for technology that will help us improve our approach by making sure communities can use it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UNAIDS Director said reaching the goal of having 15 million people on ART by 2015 would avoid 1.4 million deaths, help to prevent 500,000 new infections and protect seven million children from becoming orphans.<\/p>\n
These impressive gains mean that money spent on treatment is not being wasted: \u201cTreatment is not just about giving pills but about restoring dignity. We are making sure we save lives. Treatment is not a cost for me, it is an investment, and we need to show this to our ministers of finance and our high-level decision makers. If we can avoid 1.4 million deaths, for me nothing can be more worthy than avoiding those unnecessary deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking the floor after Sidib\u00e9, Global Fund Executive Director Mark Dybel took a step away from an exclusive focus on treatment although he admitted it is hugely important. \u201cWe are not going to end the epidemic by just putting people on treatment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is part of the solution but not all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking on treatment as prevention, Dybel cited studies to cast doubt on the \u201creal-life effectiveness\u201d of ART as prevention. While initial research conducted among discordant couples reported a 96% reduction in transmission, other studies have revealed rates that are far lower.<\/p>\n
\u201cUganda has universal access to treatment and increasing incidence rates,\u201d said Dybel. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t mean treatment is not effective but you cannot get to zero infections with treatment alone. And we have the data to prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n
AJAN representatives at ICASA who attended the session were enthusiastic about what they heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cSidib\u00e9 was very good, saying treatment is not just about taking pills, it is about keeping people alive, about restoring their dignity as \u2013 and this is my addition \u2013 human beings created by God,\u201d said Kelly Michelo SJ, coordinator of the home-based care program of Chikuni in rural Zambia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a paradigm shift that addresses critical enablers and, in this way, we can reach more people where they are.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Community-based approaches are essential to reach 14 million people in Africa who still don\u2019t have access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART), said UNAIDS Director Michel Sidib\u00e9. In a compelling address during a UNAIDS session at ICASA on 9 November about scaling up treatment coverage, Sidib\u00e9 made it clear that rollout<\/p>\n