7,000 Guyanese living with HIV

During World AIDS Day, yesterday local statistics revealed that there are 7,000 Guyanese living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Of the infected, 5,300 have been linked to a care and treatment facility with approximately 85 percent receiving Antiretroviral Treatment. This is according to information recorded by the National AIDS Program Secretariat, the HIV/AIDS fighting arm of the Ministry of Public Health. NAPS has been able to deduce, too, that it is estimated that less than 200 persons die annually from AIDS-related illnesses. Guyana has been realizing some major gains in its fight against the once dreaded disease. Among these is the fact that the Mother to Child Transmission rate of HIV currently stands at two percent and the prevalence of the infection in pregnant mothers remains at 1.9 percent. NAPS has revealed too that the trends suggest that there has been a gradual decline in the number of new AIDS cases over the past five years.

Further, it has been found that the gender most affected here in Guyana is male, while persons between the ages of 25 and 49 years continue to account for most of the new HIV infections. However, it has been found that in the epidemiological context of Guyana, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of youth between the age of 15 and 24 affected. But Guyana, like the rest of the world, has committed to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. (Kaieteurnews.com)