At least over 1000 HIV/AIDS patients

At least over 1000 HIV/AIDS patients in The Gambia are currently on anti-retroviral therapy according to the regional AIDS coordinator in the West Coast region, who said it was important to keep tab on the figures.

Mr. Kebba Jome who made this revelation shortly after a partnership forum on HIV/AIDs organised by the KMC and BCC at the Paradise Suite hotel, revealed that currently over 1,600 people with advanced HIV infection are receiving anti-retroviral therapy.

According to him, the secretariat and its partners have established a twenty-four health facility offering prevention of mother to child transmission services with over 90, 000 pregnant women completing the counselling and testing process.

Mr. Jome stressed that there are a total of nine health facilitators capable of providing advanced intervention for disease prevention and medical treatment for people living with HIV and appropriate laboratory facilities providing all essential tests for anti-retroviral therapy. According to the coordinator over 3,000 orphans and vulnerable children are receiving free basic external support and over 5, 000 people living with HIV are being provided with care and support services.

Mr. Jome said that the partnership forum was part of activities by the municipality’s AIDS committee to mark World AIDS Day, observed worldwide every December 1st.

The theme for the last commemoration was “Universal Access and Human Rights”.

According to him in 2003, the World Health Organisation launched an ambitious target of reaching three million people in low and middle income countries with anti-retroviral drugs by 2005. He said it was not intended as a final objective, but as a stepping stone to universal access to ARVs.

Mr. Jome said although the target was not attained until 2007, it was seen by some as succeeding in a number of ways as the treatment rose from covering 400, 000 people in December 2003 to 1.3 million in December 2005.

“Considering the relative success of the target, the international community set another target in 2006 aimed at universal access to HIV treatment, prevention and care by 2010.

The 2010 target is also part of it MDG 6 which includes halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015’ he indicated

According to him, most countries including The Gambia are expanding coverage of their national treatment by setting themselves a goal of providing antiretroviral therapy to 80 percent of those in need. He added that although this target is yet to be met by many countries, the goal of universal access to HIV treatment remains an important one for low and middle income countries around the world.

Mr. Jome clarified that universal access broadly defined “does not necessarily mean 100 percent coverage of all services but can been seen as a desire to ensure high level access to the most effective interventions that are supposed to be equitable, accessible, affordable, comprehensive and sustainable”.