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To this end, this network invites the World Health Organization (WHO) to make a recommendation on the implementation of the hepatitis C (HCV) self-test and at the same time wishes to involve stakeholders in society. civilians in Covid-19 screening policies.
During a press conference organized in Dakar (Senegal) on November 23, the representatives of this coalition justified their recommendations by the fact that screening has long been the prerogative of facilities and health workers, with mixed results, for example in the fight against ‘HIV / AIDS.
“Civil society has not only managed to overcome the reluctance of communities to be tested, but has also taken experimentation to the most remote areas and the most withdrawn groups, making experimentation accessible to all”
Daouda Diouf, Enda Health
“In 2016, the international community pledged to eliminate AIDS by 2030 with an interim target for 2020. It was necessary that by 2020, 90% of people living with HIV were screened and subjected to care. and that their viral load is undetectable “, explains Safiatou Thiam, executive secretary of the National Council for AIDS Control in Senegal and chairman of the board of directors of Coalition Plus Afrique
One month after this deadline, the latter observes, “20% of people living with HIV are not yet aware of their HIV status. While screening is the gateway to all control strategies. Because, before being put into treatment, it is necessary to know his serological status “.
According to UNAIDS, in fact, in 2019 81% of people living with HIV know their state. 67% of people living with HIV are being treated and 59% of people living with HIV have a permanently suppressed viral load.
For example, approximately 7.1 million people around the world were unaware of their HIV status in 2019 and, as a result, were not receiving treatment. Which, according to Coalition Plus, represents a crucial public health problem, since an undiagnosed HIV-positive person is at risk of transmitting the virus.
In the case of hepatitis C, “the proportion is greater since 4 out of 5 people are unaware that they are carriers of the virus whose late diagnosis and treatment are the cause of 60% of liver cancer cases in the world”, reads in a press kit produced by Coalition Plus.
Accessible language
These below-target results are explained by the way screening is carried out, believes Daouda Diouf, director of Enda Santé, an international organization whose primary mission is to support populations – particularly vulnerable groups – in advocating for their rights to access information and adequate health services.
The latter particularly deplores the fact that “until then, in most countries, we have had very generalist strategies that target everyone and that do not target the people or groups most likely to be infected”.
Additionally, Coalition Plus officials say they have found that screening is most successful when civil society actors and associations get involved and raise awareness in communities in accessible language and offer them the opportunity to be screened without traveling. .
This approach, which shifts screening to communities, has proved its worth and civil society organizations have “strongly contributed over the past five years to significantly increase the rate of people screened,” says Daouda Diouf.
For the latter, “civil society has managed not only to overcome the reluctance of communities to screen, but has also brought screening to the most remote areas and the most withdrawn groups, making screening accessible. to all “.
Community actors
Furthermore, the other obstacle to achieving the first of the three objectives (screening 90% of people living with HIV) is the fact that community actors are not remunerated for their efforts, as they have often been recruited as volunteers.
“It is time to consider that the community actor is doing real work in the service of the community and public health and that in return he must be paid consistently and fairly,” says Daouda Diouf.
The international screening week consisted of carrying out screening operations for HIV and hepatitis in the 52 countries of Europe, Africa, Asia and America from which the member associations of this coalition come. B and C, other communicable infections and even COVID-19 …
According to Sakho Mamadou Lamine, regional councilor at UNAIDS regional office for West and Central Africa, explains that “COVID-19 offers the opportunity to reorganize HIV services so that people living with the ‘HIV can continue to benefit from their treatment despite the pandemic ”.
“We need to move towards multi-year delivery of antiretrovirals. That is to say, the sick are given an endowment of three or even six months. In order to ensure the regularity of care and that they do not have to challenge the measures of a state of health emergency to go to the health center or other place of care ”, suggests the person concerned.
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