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PEPFAR determined to reduce effects of HIV/Aids scourge
2007-02-22 09:57:30
By SIMON KIVAMWO
No matter who comes after United States’ President George W. Bush, the Emergency Plan for AIDS RELIEF (PEPFAR, which is the largest
commitment ever by any nation towards an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease-a five-year, $15 billion, (over 15trn/=) multifaceted approach to combating the disease around the world with the focus on 15 countries, Tanzania inclusive is here to stay.
Praising Tanzania for having responded positively in terms of fulfilling PEPFAR’s priorities, senior administrators of the plan in Washington are optimistic that the new leadership will definitely not let down the obviously recovering countries to under-go a `retardation` motion in the fight against the pandemic.
Scepticism among the international visitors were high. The visitors, some of them coming from the focal countries and other developing world were not sure whether, the five-year-strategy would get another mandate after the expiry of the leadership tenure of the current President George W. Bush.
The strategy, PEPFAR, was officially launched in 2003, when President Bush committed $15 billion to fight HIV/Aids in more than 120 countries around the world. However, the bilateral programmes included a special emphasis on 15 focus countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia.
Apart from Tanzania, other focal countries were: Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia.
This financial commitment was accompanied by ambitious goals such as supporting the prevention of 7 million new infections, supporting treatment of 2 million HIV-infected people, and supporting care for 10 million people infected and affected by HIV/Aids, including orphans and vulnerable children, in an accountable and sustainable way.
Giving the strategy’s achievements recently in Washington to the group of international visitors made up of medical doctors, vets, social workers and health journalists from across the world, Kristin Pugh, Director of Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy from the US Global AIDS Coordinator office said, despite being unaware of who is going to be the next President, there is no likelihood that the strategy would cease after Bush.
She said, we cannot speculate who is the next president or ruling party.
Likewise, we can`t speculate what will be the next president’s policies on health issues. However, we can still believe that, the new government will not take an opposite direction towards this pandemic.
A Senior State Department officer hinted to the The Guardian in Washington with emphasis that, `Normally, these kinds of decisions are passed by Congress sessions…It is, therefore, not a matter of a president or just one party to decide otherwise.
As a matter of fact, the new president is most likely to be a candidate drawn from either of the Democratic and Republican parties.
The next general presidential elections are set for 2008. The current President is a Republican.
According to the official, as of September 2006, the strategy had already supported life-serving antiretroviral treatment for approximately 822,000 men, women and children through bilateral programmes in PEPFAR’s 15 focus countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
When the president announced PEPFAR, it was estimated that only 50,000 people were receiving treatment for HIV/Aids in sub-Saharan Africa.
Pugh who was accompanied by Reuben Granich, the Technical Advisor for Treatment and Care, further revealed that, by supporting the most comprehensive and diverse portfolio on HIV/Aids prevention strategies of any international partner, the Emergency plan had supported through September last year, prevention of mother-to-Child HIV transmission services for women during more than 6 million pregnancies.
Challenges to Emergency Plan Implementation in Tanzania
Speaking to The Guardian recently, Kristen Stafford, Regional Manager of PEPFAR-AIDS Relief at the University of Maryland, Baltimore said, information reaching her desk had it that Tanzania was one among the focal countries currently doing well in terms of attaining the plan’s goals.
`I know Tanzania has made a tremendous stride in using the PEPFAR funds, according to the reports received till last year,` she said, noting this year`s reports were expected in March, when a new calendar starts.
We believe the achievements have been realised because of the good working partnership between your government and the US team in Tanzania, she said.
Normally, the US Government (USG) strategy builds on existing structures and plans in concert with the Government of Tanzania and other donors.
Dr Bennet Fimbo, a renowned medical officer and Senior Director responsible with Information, Education and Communication (IEC) in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare told The Guardian this week that, the national-wide antiretroviral free treatment was slowly gaining momentum, after a long period of feet-dragging.
`At least now we have some 62,000 people on ARVs. This is an encouraging step,` said Dr Fimbo, in a brief telephone interview. However, the figure is still far away from the government’s original ambition.
The government had in 2004 committed itself to put up to 500,000 Tanzanians living with HIV/Aids on ARVs.
According to other sources, the greatest challenge facing the health sector in Tanzania is inadequate human resources to deliver quality health services to the Tanzanian population. The second challenge to the Emergency Plan implementation is poverty.
Overall, while services may be available, the human and physical infrastructure is in need of some level of improvement to allow better quality patient care.
Emergency Plan Results in Tanzania According to PEPFAR’s latest data, the number of individuals reached by community outreach HIV/Aids prevention programs that promote abstinence and being faithful was 1,516,500, while the number of pregnant women receiving prevention of mother to child HIV transmission ( PMTCT) services had gone up to 42,800.
PEPFAR further discloses that, the number of HIV-infected individuals who received palliative care/basic health care and support was 13,400, while the number of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) who were served by an OVC programme was 12,000
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