4th Scientific Days on HIV/AIDS 2024: Building on scientific evidence
- Posted on 12/07/2024 16:18
- Film
- By abelozih@sante-education.tg
Extract from the article: Le Ministère en charge de la Santé a organisé, en collaboration avec le Secrétariat Permanent du Conseil National de Lutte contre le Sida et les IST (SP/CNLS-IST), les quatrièmes journées scientifiques sur le VIH et le Sida. Cet événement s’est tenu
The
Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Permanent Secretariat of the
National Council for the Fight against AIDS and STIs (SP/CNLS-IST), organized
the fourth Scientific Days on HIV and AIDS. The event was held from July 11 to
12, 2024 in Lomé. The theme was «Building interventions on
scientific evidence ». The event was launched by Dr
Kokou Wotobe, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene.
The ceremony was marked by the presentation of symbolic awards to 10
institutions and 2 personalities in recognition of their commitment and support
in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Around
a hundred players took part in the national meeting, to bring themselves up to
date with international news and to reflect on the major challenges involved in
achieving the 3 x 95 targets by 2030 in the fight against HIV. Above all, they
drew on scientific data to identify interventions, strengths and challenges, in
order to develop the best operational strategies for a major impact on the
national response to HIV.
According
to Pr Vincent Pitché, Coordinator of the Permanent Secretariat of the Conseil
National Lutte contre le Sida et les Infections Sexuellement Transmissibles
(CNLS-IST), and Chairman of the organizing committee, the Fourth Scientific
Days on HIV/AIDS provided an opportunity to bring local players up to speed
with international news, as well as to highlight the operational research
carried out by players in the field, and to exchange views with all parties on
issues of common interest. Over the two days, 06 papers were presented and 02
symposia organized. The development of the various conferences and
communications enabled all stakeholders to question themselves or understand
certain strategic orientations.
Building
on scientific evidence
Science
is dynamic. Scientific and programmatic knowledge can better inform
interventions in the fight against AIDS. «If we want to have a major
impact on our national response, we must collectively use objective, scientific
data (studies, evaluations) to identify the interventions that work and those
that don't or don't work as well. If we
want to accelerate and reach our national objectives, we need to identify and
update our weaknesses and bottlenecks, and build the best operational
strategies to resolve them, rather than just doing things for the sake of doing
things», said Pr Vincent Pitché, Coordinator of
the CNLS-IST.
The
Ministry of Health is delighted with the growing progress made in the national
response to this epidemic over the last ten years. This progress is reflected
in a significant 65% reduction in new infections and deaths between 2010 and
2023. Therapeutic coverage of antiretroviral drugs for people living with HIV
is 88%. «Despite these promising indicators,
there remain enormous challenges and constraints to achieving the national
objectives subscribed to by our country as part of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). Indeed, in order to overcome the challenges and bottlenecks, and
improve the quality of service provision, the players must have scientific
evidence at their disposal, and it is on the basis of this evidence that robust
interventions must be built, the implementation of which will have a positive
impact on the beneficiary populations», declared Dr Kokou Wotobe.
Scientific
and programmatic evidence that has had an impact on the fight against HIV
In
his address, Prof. Vincent Pitché listed some of the scientific and
programmatic evidence that has impacted the response in recent years.He
stressed the need to know one's epidemic (size of target populations,
epidemiological mapping of the infection) in order to plan and build
interventions.In terms of prevention, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is
effective, as are self-testing and index testing, making it possible to reach
people who are difficult to reach in health centers. On the other hand, evaluation studies have
shown that large-scale screening campaigns are not effective.
In terms of care and treatment, a study carried out in 2015 and published in the «New England Journal of Medicine» reveals that there are major benefits for patients and public health from early treatment. These data have led all technical and financial partners (WHO, UNAIDS, PEPFAR Global Fund) to work towards the deployment of the Test and Treat or Treat all strategy and the treatment of all HIV-positive pregnant women (no more ARV prophylaxis in the third). Furthermore, this study and other data show that viral load suppression is an effective prevention strategy, as is mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), the undetectable = untransmissible strategy.Scientific advances confirm the efficacy and tolerability of antiretroviral tritherapies (currently one tablet a day, compared with 6 to 10 tablets in the early 2000s).
The
representative of the UNAIDS Country Director, Dr Angèle Maboudou, noted that
the latest UNAIDS State of the Response report shows that there is a clear path
to ending AIDS, and countries following this path are already achieving
extraordinary results.
«Today,
we have the opportunity to end AIDS by strengthening political will, investing
in a sustainable HIV response and funding what matters most: evidence-based HIV
prevention and treatment, integrated health systems, non-discriminatory laws,
gender equality and community empowerment», explained Dr Maboudou.She stressed
that this pathway will also help humanity prepare to respond to future
pandemics, and contribute to the achievement of the MDGs.
HIV
situation in Togo
In
Togo, HIV prevalence is ten times higher in Greater Lomé and the Maritime
region than in the Savannah region.This means that, while the emphasis is on
decentralization and good geographical coverage of services in all health
districts, we need to invest far more resources in Grand Lomé and the Maritime
region to have a big impact.
Among
the target populations, HIV prevalence is highly feminized. We therefore need
to take into account socio-economic vulnerabilities and gender-based violence,
in particular the involvement of men in our strategies, if we are to have a
positive impact on HIV morbidity and mortality among adolescent girls and
mother-child pairs.
The
implementation of interventions in Togo, thanks to the support of technical and
financial partners, has accelerated the achievement of the 3 x 95 targets. In
Togo, by the end of 2023, 88% of PLHIV know their status, over 99% of PLHIV
screened were on ARVs, and 90% of those treated had a suppressed viral load.
William
O.