By Adama Makasuba
The Gambia Network of Aids Support Society has newly discovered that the Human Immune Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency (HIV&AIDS) between the months of June to September, 2018; were one thousand, two hundred and seven (1,207) patients.
GAMNAS made the revelation at a press conference held at its office in Churchill Town, Serrekunda.
The officials described the number a call for concern, adding and reiterated that “if measures are not taken to avert the alarming rate of the infection in the country, it would cause havoc in the near future.”
However, International Treatment Preparedness Coalition has been launched in the country to increase access to antiretroviral therapy for people living with the Human Immune Virus.
It has covered at least eleven West African countries including The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Cote d’ Voire, Guinea, and Togo.
The project aims to formalize and expand existing community treatment observatories to all focus countries, create a regional treatment observatory and build the capacity of the eleven national people living with HIV networks to do treatment monitoring.
Samba Sey, the programme manager at GAMNAS declared: “The project is targeting key population in the country and that the key populace is the youths for this HIV infection because we have seen that they are the people that are more vulnerable to HIV infection.”
He said that the key barriers to HIV prevention are stigma and discrimination which he noted discourages many people from taking the test.
He gave the impression that: “Unfortunately many barriers to HIV prevention remained the stigma and discrimination which deter people from taking the HIV test. The access to confidential HIV test is a concern which many people having tested become prone to ill symptomatic.”
He further described HIV testing as essential for expanding treatment to ensuring that people living with HIV can live healthy and productive life.