HIV CARE GAP

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Jamaica is calling for urgent action to reach the thousands of people living with HIV in Jamaica who are not receiving treatment.

In a statement yesterday, the AHF, which works to expand access to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment, sexual and reproductive health services, advocacy, and community-based health education, pointed to national data showing that Jamaica has an estimated 28,000 people living with HIV, approximately 26,500 of whom have been diagnosed. However, only 14,716 – or 53 per cent – are documented as receiving treatment.

The AHF said while these figures demonstrate considerable progress in HIV testing, diagnosis is only the first step. The data suggest that more than 13,000 people living with HIV are not documented as receiving the treatment they need.

“Diagnosis is not the finish line,” said Sannia Sutherland, country programme manager at AHF Jamaica.

“With only half of Jamaicans living with HIV on treatment, too many are being left behind. We have a duty to strengthen every step between diagnosis and treatment so that everyone diagnosed is brought into care and supported to stay there.”

However, Dr Nicola Skyers, senior medical officer of the National HIV/STI Programme in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, told The Gleaner that the 47 per cent figure does not necessarily reflect the number of HIV-positive people who are not receiving care.

“Within that 47 per cent, there are persons who would not have come into care any at all. So they may have tested somewhere else, years ago, and because we are not clear as to where they are, meaning they could have died. But we don’t have any information on them, [and] until we get that information, they are still counted,” she said, adding that the data also include people who may have migrated.

Skyers said about 3,500 HIV-positive individuals had used public-health facilities at least once but subsequently dropped out of care. These individuals are the ministry’s primary focus.

“We try to reach them through phone calls, home visits, try to encourage them to come back into care,” she said.

She explained that some HIV-positive individuals lack support from family and friends, leading them to hide their status and avoid taking medication.

Stressing that treatment availability was not an issue, Skyers said the ministry provides psychologists and social workers, extends clinic hours, and is working to ensure that all health centres can offer HIV care.

She noted, however, that some HIV-positive individuals discontinue treatment because of various social challenges.

“Some people are in denial, some persons are using herbal remedies, some people there is what we call pill fatigue – some people are really tired of taking medication. There are persons who, sometimes, based on where they are located, they have indicated that the clinic hours may conflict with theirs. There are still matters of stigma and discrimination, self perception as well. There’s internal discrimination,” she said.

AHF Jamaica, meanwhile, highlighted that HIV treatment keeps people healthy and allows them to live long, full lives. It noted that when treatment brings the virus under control, it also prevents HIV from being passed on to sexual partners.

The foundation added that every person not on treatment faces a risk of serious illness and represents a missed opportunity to prevent new infections.

While recognising the Government’s efforts in the national HIV response and its work to expand prevention and treatment options, including the proposed introduction of long-acting injectable medicines, AHF Jamaica said new medicines would make a difference only if people living with HIV were reached, brought into care, and supported to remain on treatment.

The foundation is, therefore, calling for a national count of all patients receiving HIV treatment, matched against National Health Fund pharmacy records across public and private facilities. It is also urging targeted support for treatment sites where patients are most frequently lost to follow-up and timely efforts to contact those who miss appointments or discontinue treatment.

“Success in the HIV response must be measured not only by how well we treat those who remain in care but by how effectively we reach, retain, and support everyone living with HIV,” it said.

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