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U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-43202002-069
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 2002Contact: USAID Press Office
BARCELONA, SPAIN - The U. S. Agency for International Development announced today that it has started antiretroviral treatment programs for HIV-infected people in Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda. These are the first U.S. government-funded programs in these countries to provide comprehensive antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS.
The announcement was made at a press conference at the XIV International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Representatives of the governments of Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda were in attendance.
"These antiretroviral treatment sites are an important first step in providing comprehensive care to the people who need it most," said Dr. Paul De Lay, USAID's senior HIV/AIDS advisor. "Coupled with President Bush's recent announcement of his International Mother and Child HIV Prevention Initiative, USAID will carry out a major expansion of services for people living with HIV/AIDS."
USAID has managed global HIV/AIDS prevention programs since 1986. In 1997, USAID began to add AIDS care and support components to its network of prevention services. USAID follows an inter-related "prevention-to-care" strategy, in the belief that HIV prevention is enhanced when people have access to quality, comprehensive HIV care and support. To date, USAID's care programs have consisted of treatment for sexually transmitted and opportunistic infections, improving nutrition, and providing psychosocial and palliative care.
Today's announcement marks an expansion of the U.S. government's care and treatment programs, to now include life-saving anti-retroviral drug therapies in developing countries. Until recently, the provision of these drugs was both complex and too expensive for many developing countries. The price of these drugs has declined significantly such that USAID has been able to work with its partners to integrate antiretroviral (ARV) treatment and management into relevant prevention and care programs. USAID plans the following efforts:
Ghana: In Ghana, the "Start" program is a comprehensive prevention, care and treatment program that is designed to define, refine and document approaches to HIV/AIDS service delivery in resource-poor settings. This program is being designed and implemented by USAID's partners Family Health International, National AIDS Control Program, Ghana Health Services, and the Ghana AIDS Commission. "Start" will begin in two districts in the Eastern Region of Ghana, where an estimated 18,000 people out of 240,000 are HIV positive.
Kenya: USAID will start ARV treatment in Mombassa, Kenya, at the Coast Provincial General Hospital, and at two primary health care centers that have ongoing voluntary HIV counseling and testing services. In addition to these services, there is a strong home-based care services system in Mombassa. Family Health International and its collaborators have established networks of community organizations that are working together to serve the needs of people living with HIV and AIDS in these communities.
Rwanda: USAID is starting a program in Rwanda to provide comprehensive care to people living with HIV/AIDS. Family Health International will build on existing HIV counseling and testing services, and expand the range of medical care and support services that are available to HIV-infected individuals. In this site, a major focus will be on supporting community responses to provide home-based care as a complement to clinic-based services.
Establishing such sites demonstrates a commitment to sustaining the intervention, and establishing the minimum elements of the comprehensive care and support that can be strengthened and replicated in other resource-constrained settings.
In all three countries, USAID intends to create models for provision of antiretrovirals that governments and the private sector can expand to a national level. These initial sites will explore a host of issues surrounding the introduction of antiretrovirals into a variety of clinical settings. USAID will rapidly distill lessons learned from these sites.
USAID is the world's leader in providing funding to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Since 1986, it has provided more than $2.3 billion for prevention, care and treatment programs in over 50 countries around the world. More information about USAID's HIV/AIDS programs is available at www.usaid.gov.
USAID is the government agency providing U.S. economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
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