 |
| A seasonal Care and Treatment photo |
WASHINGTON, DC, USA (15 July 2013) - The International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), representing 20,000+ members in over 100 countries, today endorsed a Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) framework meant to expand to 15 million the number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) who benefit from the therapeutic and preventative effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART) by 2015.
The Treatment 2015 framework, launched by UNAIDS this past weekend at a Special Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in Abuja, Nigeria, provides leadership on attaining the 2015 treatment goal by emphasizing the need to accelerate the speed of ART scale-up to outpace the HIV epidemic, focus on settings and populations with high HIV prevalence and significant unmet treatment need, and use innovation to translate science into action.
Furthermore, UNAIDS identifies three pillars as the foundation for the results-driven framework, including increasing demand for HIV testing and treatment services; mobilizing resources and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of spending; and ensuring more people have access to ART.
The framework's launch coincides with the release earlier this month of World Health Organization (WHO) "Consolidated Guidelines on the Use of Antiretroviral Drugs for Treating and Preventing HIV Infection," which recommend ART initiation at an earlier CD4 count threshold for most PLWHA. The number of those who are now clinically eligible for ART worldwide has thus increased to approximately 25 million.
"Through the Treatment 2015 framework promoting speed, focus, and innovation, as well as across its three pillars, there exists a unique opportunity for our global membership to make a significant contribution toward quality ART scale-up, particularly in the 30 countries in which nine out of 10 people who are clinically eligible for ART but do not currently have access," said IAPAC President José M. Zuniga, PhD, MPH.
Zuniga continued that, "As a UNAIDS partner, IAPAC enthusiastically endorses the Treatment 2015 framework because of the bold goal it sets and the clear direction it provides for collective efforts to curb HIV morbidity and mortality. We also commit to delivering the guidance, training, and ongoing support necessary to achieve the quantitative and qualitative aspects of placing millions more people on ART."
IAPAC and UNAIDS signed a Memorandum of Understanding last month focused on expanding access to HIV prevention, testing, care, treatment, and support services globally. An objective of this new partnership is advancing innovative means by which to expand access in a way that takes into account the importance of optimizing the HIV treatment cascade. Zuniga explained that, "In doing so, we will address the testing, linkage to care, and long-term engagement in care barriers that attenuate the full benefit of ART."
Of note, an international IAPAC Advisory Panel led by Linda-Gail Bekker, MBChB, PhD (University of Cape Town, South Africa); Julio S.G. Montaner, MD (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada); Celso Ramos, MD, MSc (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); and Renslow Sherer, MD (University of Chicago, IL, USA) is updating and expanding IAPAC's 2012 "Guidelines for Improving Entry into and Retention in Care and Antiretroviral Adherence for Persons with HIV." Their work is expected to conclude with the publication of "IAPAC Guidelines on Optimizing the HIV Treatment Cascade" in late 2013/early 2014.
SOURCE: www.IAPAC.org
The Treatment 2015 framework, launched by UNAIDS this past weekend at a Special Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in Abuja, Nigeria, provides leadership on attaining the 2015 treatment goal by emphasizing the need to accelerate the speed of ART scale-up to outpace the HIV epidemic, focus on settings and populations with high HIV prevalence and significant unmet treatment need, and use innovation to translate science into action.
Furthermore, UNAIDS identifies three pillars as the foundation for the results-driven framework, including increasing demand for HIV testing and treatment services; mobilizing resources and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of spending; and ensuring more people have access to ART.
The framework's launch coincides with the release earlier this month of World Health Organization (WHO) "Consolidated Guidelines on the Use of Antiretroviral Drugs for Treating and Preventing HIV Infection," which recommend ART initiation at an earlier CD4 count threshold for most PLWHA. The number of those who are now clinically eligible for ART worldwide has thus increased to approximately 25 million.
"Through the Treatment 2015 framework promoting speed, focus, and innovation, as well as across its three pillars, there exists a unique opportunity for our global membership to make a significant contribution toward quality ART scale-up, particularly in the 30 countries in which nine out of 10 people who are clinically eligible for ART but do not currently have access," said IAPAC President José M. Zuniga, PhD, MPH.
Zuniga continued that, "As a UNAIDS partner, IAPAC enthusiastically endorses the Treatment 2015 framework because of the bold goal it sets and the clear direction it provides for collective efforts to curb HIV morbidity and mortality. We also commit to delivering the guidance, training, and ongoing support necessary to achieve the quantitative and qualitative aspects of placing millions more people on ART."
IAPAC and UNAIDS signed a Memorandum of Understanding last month focused on expanding access to HIV prevention, testing, care, treatment, and support services globally. An objective of this new partnership is advancing innovative means by which to expand access in a way that takes into account the importance of optimizing the HIV treatment cascade. Zuniga explained that, "In doing so, we will address the testing, linkage to care, and long-term engagement in care barriers that attenuate the full benefit of ART."
Of note, an international IAPAC Advisory Panel led by Linda-Gail Bekker, MBChB, PhD (University of Cape Town, South Africa); Julio S.G. Montaner, MD (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada); Celso Ramos, MD, MSc (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); and Renslow Sherer, MD (University of Chicago, IL, USA) is updating and expanding IAPAC's 2012 "Guidelines for Improving Entry into and Retention in Care and Antiretroviral Adherence for Persons with HIV." Their work is expected to conclude with the publication of "IAPAC Guidelines on Optimizing the HIV Treatment Cascade" in late 2013/early 2014.
SOURCE: www.IAPAC.org
0 comments:
Post a Comment