By Sarah Hannan
Earlier last week, we reported that there was an increase in HIV-positive cases recorded by the National STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP) of the Ministry of Health, noting that youths from 19-25 years of age showed high prevalence of contracting the virus.
The sentinel data collection across the island indicates that there are 3,600 people living with HIV (PLHIV) who are over the age of 15 and reflects an HIV prevalence of less that 0.1%.
“The diagnostic test data from the clinics of the National STD/AIDS Control Programme islandwide records that this deplorable condition has shown a gradual increase in recent times. According to the scientific projections, Sri Lanka should have eliminated HIV by 2020. However, with new cases being reported over the past months, not many youths getting tested for HIV due to stigma might be causing the spread of it,” NSACP Director Dr. Rasanjali Hettiarachchi told The Sunday Morning.
She also said that society itself should pay attention to another special issue, noting that although 3,600 infected people were required to register with the NSACP clinics for treatment, only 2,000 are currently registered.
She pointed out that the remaining 1,600 people may be interacting with others in society without even knowing they are infected, through which healthy people may also be infected because of the former.
Dr. Hettiarachchi therefore urged that everyone come to the clinics and undergo free blood tests to rule out infection. She also said that a special programme will be implemented from this month onwards to create public awareness of the potential effects of contracting HIV AIDS and the precautions one could take to prevent contracting the virus.
Outreach and awareness
When asked what measures the NSACP has taken to create awareness on the importance of testing and the necessity of proper awareness on sexual health, Dr. Hettiarachchi noted that, given the age of being most vulnerable to contract HIV, a programme is also proposed to be carried out at school level.
“We have designed an appropriate awareness kit with the assistance of the Family Planning Association (of Sri Lanka) and the Public Health Bureau of the Ministry of Health and have presented it to the Ministry of Education for consideration. The programme, if approved, will be conducted for schoolchildren from Grade 10 upwards. In addition to that, we are also working closely with universities where we are looking at conducting awareness sessions,” Dr. Hettiarachchi elaborated.
U=U movement
We reached out to Sriyal Nilanka, an advocate of PLHIV, to understand how the state healthcare service is assisting persons who are referred for treatment once they get tested positive for HIV.
“In Sri Lanka, after a person gets tested positive for HIV, they have to go through the state mechanism for treatment. This is truly commendable, as the medication and the consultancies are afforded to the person free of charge. However, breaking the stigma over the virus seems to be very difficult, as community awareness is lacking,” Nilanka noted, adding that a person with HIV will not necessarily contract AIDS and will not be transmitting the virus to another once they are on suppression treatment.
According to Nilanka, this messaging is most often overshadowed by statistics, which always becomes the highlight of the awareness session as well.
In July, a research dossier was presented to the 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020: Virtual) based on the “Undetectable = Untransmittable” (U=U) movement that was launched in 2016 by activists and researchers in New York City, USA.
Nilanka noted that looking at the Asian region, Vietnam, in order to receive the first President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to achieve viral suppression in over 95% of people on antiretroviral treatment and officially endorse U=U via national guidelines, had succeeded in driving the message on HIV/AIDS prevention following the U=U movement.
Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) Representative of Vietnam Asia Nguyen had revealed that both the Ministry of Health and community leaders there have embraced U=U as a central component of overall HIV prevention efforts, in addition to using it to reduce stigma. This has included challenging misperceptions of HIV and communicating the importance of U=U to people living with HIV, younger men who have sex with men (MSM), reluctant health professionals, and the broader public through tailored advertising campaigns, starting at a community level and progressing to a national campaign.
Sri Lanka is still in the early stages of rolling out such programmes and at present has a dedicated website that will help a person assess their risk for HIV and book a safe, confidential, and anonymous HIV test. The instructions are available in Sinhala, Tamil, and English.
The sentinel data collection across the island indicates that there are 3,600 people living with HIV (PLHIV) who are over the age of 15 and reflects an HIV prevalence of less that 0.1%.
“The diagnostic test data from the clinics of the National STD/AIDS Control Programme islandwide records that this deplorable condition has shown a gradual increase in recent times. According to the scientific projections, Sri Lanka should have eliminated HIV by 2020. However, with new cases being reported over the past months, not many youths getting tested for HIV due to stigma might be causing the spread of it,” NSACP Director Dr. Rasanjali Hettiarachchi told The Sunday Morning.
She also said that society itself should pay attention to another special issue, noting that although 3,600 infected people were required to register with the NSACP clinics for treatment, only 2,000 are currently registered.
She pointed out that the remaining 1,600 people may be interacting with others in society without even knowing they are infected, through which healthy people may also be infected because of the former.
Dr. Hettiarachchi therefore urged that everyone come to the clinics and undergo free blood tests to rule out infection. She also said that a special programme will be implemented from this month onwards to create public awareness of the potential effects of contracting HIV AIDS and the precautions one could take to prevent contracting the virus.
Outreach and awareness
When asked what measures the NSACP has taken to create awareness on the importance of testing and the necessity of proper awareness on sexual health, Dr. Hettiarachchi noted that, given the age of being most vulnerable to contract HIV, a programme is also proposed to be carried out at school level.
“We have designed an appropriate awareness kit with the assistance of the Family Planning Association (of Sri Lanka) and the Public Health Bureau of the Ministry of Health and have presented it to the Ministry of Education for consideration. The programme, if approved, will be conducted for schoolchildren from Grade 10 upwards. In addition to that, we are also working closely with universities where we are looking at conducting awareness sessions,” Dr. Hettiarachchi elaborated.
U=U movement
We reached out to Sriyal Nilanka, an advocate of PLHIV, to understand how the state healthcare service is assisting persons who are referred for treatment once they get tested positive for HIV.
“In Sri Lanka, after a person gets tested positive for HIV, they have to go through the state mechanism for treatment. This is truly commendable, as the medication and the consultancies are afforded to the person free of charge. However, breaking the stigma over the virus seems to be very difficult, as community awareness is lacking,” Nilanka noted, adding that a person with HIV will not necessarily contract AIDS and will not be transmitting the virus to another once they are on suppression treatment.
According to Nilanka, this messaging is most often overshadowed by statistics, which always becomes the highlight of the awareness session as well.
In July, a research dossier was presented to the 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020: Virtual) based on the “Undetectable = Untransmittable” (U=U) movement that was launched in 2016 by activists and researchers in New York City, USA.
Nilanka noted that looking at the Asian region, Vietnam, in order to receive the first President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to achieve viral suppression in over 95% of people on antiretroviral treatment and officially endorse U=U via national guidelines, had succeeded in driving the message on HIV/AIDS prevention following the U=U movement.
Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) Representative of Vietnam Asia Nguyen had revealed that both the Ministry of Health and community leaders there have embraced U=U as a central component of overall HIV prevention efforts, in addition to using it to reduce stigma. This has included challenging misperceptions of HIV and communicating the importance of U=U to people living with HIV, younger men who have sex with men (MSM), reluctant health professionals, and the broader public through tailored advertising campaigns, starting at a community level and progressing to a national campaign.
Sri Lanka is still in the early stages of rolling out such programmes and at present has a dedicated website that will help a person assess their risk for HIV and book a safe, confidential, and anonymous HIV test. The instructions are available in Sinhala, Tamil, and English.