GUYANA’S aggressive response to HIV/AIDS has seen the epidemic stabilising over the past three years as it pursues the goal of having no child born with HIV.

Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, made this assertion while speaking at the presentation of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) Workshop held at the Grand Coastal Inn, East Coast Demerara, yesterday to discuss the 2007 UNGASS Report and to allow for stakeholders to arrive at a consensus agreement on the target for 2007-2011.

He said all Guyanese should be proud of the country’s effort in fighting HIV.

Guyana’s HIV/AIDS response programme provides comprehensive care, treatment, and support for all people living with HIV.

The first case of AIDS in Guyana was diagnosed in 1987 and Government has taken cognisance of the devastating effects of the deadly disease and developed a national multi-sectoral approach.

In 1989, the National AIDS Programme (NAP), under the Ministry of Health, was launched and it resulted in the development of the Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) clinic, the National Laboratory for Infectious Diseases and the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS).

In 1992, the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) was established and charged with the role of setting up the national response to the HIV epidemic. Regional AIDS Committees (RAC) were also established to coordinate and implement HIV/AIDS activities at the sub-regional level.

The National Policy on HIV/AIDS which was first approved in Parliament in 1998 and revived in 2003, reflected universal access to adequate treatment for those persons living with HIV.

Additional policy decisions, such as no stigma or discrimination when applying to social benefits and universal access to Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) have also been integrated into the most recent revision of the National Policy during 2006.

The implementation of these policies and programmes has lead to a decrease in not only the number of persons being infected but also a reduction in the prevalence rate of HIV in the different cross sections of society.

In 2002, 9.5 percent of all deaths were attributed to HIV/AIDS. This number has reduced significantly to 6.4 percent in 2007 and is expected to be further reduced to 5.6 percent by 2011.

Government is also working to strengthen its national capacity to deal with the HIV epidemic by allocating more resources to be used in the fight against the disease.