ITPC Call for Action for the HIV Response in Ebola Affected Countries
An
international organisation The International Treatment Preparedness Coalition
(ITPC), together with the Network of HIV Positives in Sierra-Leone (NETHIPS),
the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Solidarité Thérapeutique et Initiatives
contre le Sida (SOLTHIS), and National AIDS Secretariat (NAS) has sent an
urgent call on regional development partners and international Civil Society Organizations
(CSOs) involved in HIV responses to support People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and women & children
networks in Sierra Leone.
In
ITPC statement dated 13th January 2015 international observe that the
combination of Ebola and HIV is becoming deadly hence the need for both international
and regional CSOs involved in HIV response to quickly join the local organisations to combat the deadly
combination of HIV and Ebola.
According
to the statement the main help is needed to trace and reconnect those PLHIV who
have been lost to follow-up due to the Ebola outbreak, address the stigma and
discrimination towards HIV and Ebola survivors, conduct HIV and Ebola
co-infection survival research to understand the documented variance in
morbidity rates and document community responses to the Ebola outbreak.
“We
call on partners and civil society to act now to combat this deadly
combination!” reads the statement.
Many
public health experts say that containing the virus is only part of a wider
health crisis facing West Africa, a region where most childhood deaths are
caused by treatable and preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS or curable ones like
malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Since
the Ebola outbreak, civil society has yet to lend its voice in support to PLHIV
in affected countries.
ITPC
West Africa Regional Director Mr. Sylvère B. Bukiki believes that civil society
coalitions, including regional and international PLVIH networks, should be more
committed in supporting the ongoing work of local partners to ensure the
continuity of treatment, care and support for PLHIV during this period of the
Ebola outbreak.
NETHIPS
National Coordinator Mr. Idrissa Songo adds that the experiences of PLHIV
organizations and networks can contribute meaningfully to address other health
issues beyond HIV, including Ebola. Such coalitions have marketed experience
and expertise in community mobilization and behavioural change strategies that
can help fight the transmission of Ebola in communities. “For example, ITPC
West Africa is currently undertaking the Stock Out Project, supported by the
German International Cooperation (GIZ), to document the impact of Ebola on ARV
stock outs.” He said
In
order to address the crisis of EVD, especially among people living with HIV, the
statement also calls communities in Ebola affected countries to be at the
centre of the response.
According
to the statement Ebola virus disease (EVD) has killed over 7,000 people in four
West African countries, spreading from Guinea to Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Nigeria — in what the World Health Organization called an outbreak
“unparalleled in modern times.” The sudden outbreak of the EVD has complicated
the already weak, underfunded, and understaffed health systems in affected
countries in West Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone.
ITPC
also indicates that data from the National Ebola Response Centre in
Sierra-Leone recorded 2,630 confirmed deaths out of 7,696 confirmed cases since
the first reported case in May 2014.
The
International Treatment Preparedness Coalition is a global network of community
organisations, local NGOs, researchers, and activists dedicated to effective,
affordable, and quality treatment and health care for people living with HIV. Founded
in 2003, ITPC is network solely devoted to scaling up access to HIV-related
treatment.
