…as parly says Lesotho has failed to meet own targets to reduce HIV prevalence
Mathatisi Sebusi
A NATIONAL Assembly Select Committee on HIV/AIDS is appealing to government to enhance care of children living with HIV/AIDS, primarily orphaned and vulnerable children.
The recommendation is contained in the National Assembly Select Committee’s report titled Report on The National Performance Towards Achieving Set HIV/AIDS by 2023, which was released yesterday.
The report says Lesotho had failed to achieve the target it had set itself of reducing HIV/AIDs related deaths by 50 percent by 2023.
“Despite the Lesotho government implementing programs aimed at ensuring that people living with HIV live longer, which include amongst others HIV testing, test and treat, and viral load testing and HIV self-testing mode, children living with HIV are often left behind and they still die due to HIV and diseases related to it,” reads the report.
“The UNAIDS reported that in 2021, children comprised 4 percent of people living with HIV and 15 percent of AIDS-related deaths, and the gap in HIV treatment coverage between children and adults is increasing rather than narrowing.
“Further, in terms of HIV health services delivery, there has been substantial differences between urban areas and unreachable areas in which people living with HIV are unable to get some of the said services due to Health Care Centres that are inaccessible thus inequality of HIV delivery services is widening.”
National goals that were anticipated to be achieved by 2023, in the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan (NHASP)2018 –2023, included reducing HIV/AIDS related deaths by 50 percent from 4,900 in 2017, reducing new HIV infections by at least 50 percent from 13,300 in 2017, and reduction in mother to child transmission of HIV from 11.3 percent to less than 5 percent by 2023.
The report, however, shows that in 2021 deaths were reduced by only 200, indicating that Lesotho is yet to meet its set target.
The report also says that the country is doing little in disseminating information and educating people about HIV issues and interventions.
As a result, Basotho continually die in high numbers due to HIV and other diseases associated with HIV/AIDS.
It again says that Lesotho is experiencing the challenge of new HIV infections in mostly the youth, especially young women.
It says that adolescents and young women often engage in sexual relations with men who are older than them.
The age and economic disparities, render teenage girls and young women unable to negotiate for safe sex, thus promoting new HIV infections.
The parliamentary report made reference to the Lesotho Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (LePHIA) report 2020, which says new HIV infections are higher in girls and women than in boys and men. According to the LePHIA report, 80 percent of new infections are among the age group 15 -34 years.
This is despite the Lesotho government ensuring that antiretroviral drugs are accessed freely in all government hospitals, health centres and private clinics.
The government is also committed to ensuring that Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PeP) drugs, are available in the country to prevent new HIV infections.
The parliamentary committee, therefore, urges government to accelerate preparatory work for the facilitation of injectable PrEP.
“The Ministry of Health ought to accelerate any preparatory work to facilitate the implementation of the injectable PrEP,” it says,
“The Ministry of Trade should ensure that only registered Pharmacies sell PrEP drugs to the public.”