West, Central Africa in 90-90-90 catch-up

West and Central Africa still have so much more to do urgently regarding their 90-90-90 Targets, it has been disclosed.

Though they were commended for having made significant progress in expanding access to HIV treatment in the past three years, as at the end of 2018, 53% of adults (people aged 15 and over) were accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART), compared to 39% in 2015, meaning they still lag behind East and Southern Africa, where by the end of 2018, 67% were accessing ART.

“While we’re seeing glimpses of progress, the numbers are still not what we were aiming for. More people are getting tested, and more people are getting treatment, but it’s not enough,” Dr Matshidiso Moeti, Regional Director for Africa, World Health Organization (WHO), said. “Countries are doing the work. What’s needed now is to improve the speed of the response and bring these efforts to scale if we’re to achieve the 90-90-90 Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals.”

At the 2016 United Nations High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, WHO and partners noted with concern that the region had fallen behind East and Southern Africa and called for an urgent response known as the Catch-up Plan which was designed to address bottlenecks and help countries reach the 90-90-90 Targets (90 percent of those living with HIV know their status, 90 percent of people living with HIV are on antiretroviral treatment (ART), and 90 percent of people on ART will have viral suppression).

Of the estimated 5 million people living with HIV in West and Central Africa in 2018, only 64% knew their HIV status, and only 76% had achieved viral suppression.

During a session at the 20th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa highlighted the challenges facing the region.

Dr Hugues Lago, Team Leader for HIV, TB and Hepatitis for the WHO African Region, noted that “one major gap is access to treatment for children and adolescents, as currently only 28 percent of HIV-positive children are receiving ART. Expanding testing of children at birth as well as improving adherence to treatment among adolescents will be key to stopping the West and Central Africa HIV spread.”

There’s also need to address the needs of key populations such as men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs.