-With the end of Joint HIV/TB regional Country Dialogue
By William Selmah,wselmah@gmail.com
A joint HIV/TB regional Country Dialogue has ended with a call for people to know their HIV/AIDS status through getting tested, with infection said to be reaching 25%.
The National Aids Control Program (NACP) Manager Dr. Julia T. Garbo believes this would help drop the infection rate.
She named the primary modes of HIV transmission as sexual contact and prenatal transmission, where the unborn child acquires the virus through the mother during pregnancy.
According to studies conducted by the NACP, Liberia’s HIV/AIDS prevalence has reached 2.1% of the overall population.
Besides calling on all to get tested in order to know their status, Dr. Garbo also spoke against” stigma and discrimination against persons living with HIV”.
For her part, the Chairperson of the National Aids Commission (NAC) Mrs. Theodosia Kolee said the new National Strategic Plan (NSP 2020-2025) for HIV envisions an “HIV and AIDS free Liberia”; with a mission focusing on attaining public health control of the AIDS epidemic with fewer than 10 new HIV infections per year by 2030.
The Regional Country Dialogue with key stakeholders and international partners was organized by the Liberia Coordinating Mechanism (LCM) of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria in partnership with the Ministry of Health Programs (National AIDS/STIs Control Program – NACP and National Leprosy and TB Control Program – NLTCP) and the NAC.
It was intended to “solicit citizens’ inputs for the development of new funding request to address TB/HIV related issues jointly in the West African State”.
According to a statement from the Liberia Coordinating mechanism, follow up dialogues will take place separately in Monrovia beginning next week with civil society, faith based, the media, persons living with HIV, TB cured person, key affected population to TB and HIV and national and international partners
The LCM ended the regional engagements on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 following the conclusion of Region Three counties – Nimba, Lofa and Bong which took placed in Ganta, Nimba County from 20-21 January, 2019.
It was attended by about 76 representatives of local county authorities, Ministry of Health, County Health Officers; the private sector and faith based organizations.
Others represented at the dialogue were traditional leaders, civil society groups and human rights groups, community based organizations, key populations to TB/HIV, women based groups, persons living with HIV; people most vulnerable to and affected by the diseases
Measures participants identified as key to stopping the spread of HIV/TB include prevention of HIV from Mother to Child Transmission, and Prevention of HIV from Mother to Child Transmission, and Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR-TB); HIV/TB Collaboration, and Removing human rights and gender-related barriers to TB services; HIV Program Management, and Reducing human rights and gender-related barriers to HIV service.
On Resilient Sustainable System for Health (RSSH) component, the participants prioritized the outlined health products management systems, integrated service delivery and quality improvement, strengthening human resource capacity in the health sector, integration and health information systems among others.
Liberia currently ranks 30 among high TB burden countries of the world, according to the WHO.
“As in many other high TB burden settings, economic, health and socio-demographic factors are the key issues underlying TB disease in Liberia, she continues that in 2018, about 15,000 people fell ill with TB in Liberia”, Mrs. Markonee T. Knightley, Deputy Program Manager for Programs at NLTCP said in a presentation on background, achievements and challenges of TB in Liberia.
She further informed participants that “at current, 48% of people that fell ill with TB were missed while only 52% were notified”.
She also called on participants to know the facts about TB in order to stop stigma and discrimination against those living with TB.