Africa-Press – Angola. Angola has close to 43 percent of people living with HIV without knowing their diagnosis, revealed Thursday in the municipality of Soyo, province of Zaire, the Secretary of State for Public Health.
Carlos Alberto Pinto de Sousa said that the country is experiencing a phase in which a large percentage of people are abandoning treatment.
The Secretary of State clarified that these situations are directly linked to social factors such as low understanding, stigma and discrimination, poverty, gender issues and quackery, which promise false cures, in addition to others related to the quality of care.
This picture must be inverted, taking into account that Angola committed itself, at the High Level Meeting, which adopted the Political Declaration, in 2021, to reduce new infections among adolescents, reduce stigma and discrimination, mitigate the impact of HIV /AIDS in key populations, improve communication, involvement of key social sectors and improve coordination of the National HIV/AIDS Response with all partners.
With a view to reaching everyone for the diagnosis and reducing follow-up losses, Carlos Alberto Pinto de Sousa advanced that community interventions and social support are necessary, in addition to the organization and improvement of the quality of services.
The Secretary of State also made reference to the campaign “Born free to shine”, an initiative of the First Lady of the Republic, Ana Dias Loureço, which allowed to reduce the rate of transmission of HIV from mother to child, from 26%, in 2018 to 15% in 2021.
Despite the problems it faces in the fight against the epidemic, he referred that Angola is one of the countries with the lowest HIV prevalence rates in sub-Saharan Africa.
Carlos Alberto added that, according to the Survey of Multiple and Health Indicators (IIMS), 2015-2016, the country has a 2% prevalence in the national average and large regional asymmetries, with the border provinces having the highest rates.
He stressed that the country has invested in the National Response and, in addition to the gradual improvement in the availability of local resources and political commitment, in recent years, strategies considered of excellence by the WHO and other international organizations have been implemented to achieve global goals.
The secretary of Esatdo advanced that among the strategies for achieving the global goals, the implementation of the “Test and Treat” strategy throughout the country, the expansion of the offer of Viral Load (CV) and Early Childhood Diagnosis (IPD) stand out. .
He also mentioned the adoption of more effective therapeutic schemes, based on Dolutegravir, and the adoption of the Index Case strategy, for the diagnosis of HIV, among others.
Carlos Alberto Pinto de Sousa made it known that the logistics of antiretroviral drugs had improved considerably, after the simplification of therapeutic schemes for adolescents and adults, as of February 2021, a fact that also contributed to the improvement of the quality of life and acceptance of users of the treatment, who have a comfortable dose and a drastic reduction in side effects.
UN wants to end inequalities
The UNAIDS representative, Eva Pascoal, present at the event, celebrated under the motto “Ending inequalities, now”, considered that, in sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women are three times more likely to be infected with HIV than boys and men.
He noted that allowing girls to remain in school until they complete secondary education reduces their vulnerability to HIV infection by up to 50%, underlining, on the other hand, that discrimination against people from key and marginalized populations (drug users and sex workers) is undermining the global response to HIV.
“We have to put an end to stigma and discrimination, and we need the commitment of all political, religious and traditional leaders”, warned Eva Pascoal.
During the act, the deputy governor of Zaire for the Political, Social and Economic sector, Afonso Nzolameso, representing the provincial governor, Adriano Mendes de Carvalho, referred that the province has a prevalence of 0.5%, and this year about to end has a record of 198 positive cases, of which eight resulted in deaths, whereas in the previous year (2021) 206 infections had been cataloged, with one death.
“In the four-year period 2018-2021 until the third quarter of 2022, there was an improvement in diagnostic services, a set of preventive and curative actions were developed, and efforts were redoubled in the implementation of activities aimed at preventing vertical transmission (from mother to child) of HIV,” he said.
The act was preceded by a march of solidarity with the victims of this pandemic, on a journey of approximately three kilometres.
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