Four hundred and forty-nine new HIV infections were diagnosed in Guyana over the past year, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has confirmed.
Speaking at the National HIV and AIDS Day Workplace Policy Conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Friday, the Minister said countries’ statistics are compiled by UNAIDS to help them assess how well they have been doing.
“In the past year here in Guyana we would have diagnosed at least 449 new infections. Many of this could have been prevented if we get people to understand how to prevent these infections,” Dr Anthony said.
He revealed that approximately 340,000 persons in the Caribbean are currently living with HIV, with about 15,000 new infections recorded.
The Minister said that despite advancements in treatment and education, new cases are still being detected globally.
“We have done a lot of educational work to ensure that people understand why they need to prevent this type of infection. But while we are doing a lot of work, around the world there’s still 40.8 million people living with HIV. And just in the last year, you had 1.3 million persons who are newly infected,” he stressed.
The Minister said Guyana has set a lofty goal of eliminating HIV as a public health threat by 2030.
Pointing to setbacks globally, Dr Anthony highlighted that many persons around the world are still unable to access antiretroviral drugs for treatment, while many are not aware of their HIV status.
He noted that Guyana in particular has been extremely fortunate in this area, as it does not depend on foreign funding.
As a result, he said infected persons are able to access testing, viral load monitoring and PrEP.
