Continued access to anti-retroviral drugs has been secured for people living with HIV in the Pacific Islands. The public health division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has joined with the Pacific Islands HIV and STI Response Fund to ensure supply from July 2013. It comes after global and regional cuts in funding for HIV and AIDS, and the closure of the Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation after the New Zealand government withdrew its core funding. The cost of the drugs will be borne by the Response Fund, supported by the Australian and New Zealand Aid Programmes, together with a US$100,000 contribution from SPC. “This agreement gives people living with HIV peace of mind, as we pursue the continuation of programming on HIV and other STIs in the Pacific’, says Dr Dennie Iniakwala, HIV and STI Team Leader at SPC. SPC has negotiated ongoing access to anti-retrovirals for 18 months from July 2013. “This provides a window of opportunity to secure longer term and sustained supply of these essential drugs,” Dr Iniakwala says. Since 2004, over US$330,000 has been spent on anti-retrovirals for Pacific people living with HIV by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a grant managed by SPC that is due to close in June 2013. Regional consultations were held with Pacific HIV/ STI and reproductive health managers in Fiji and Guam late last month, as part of the effort to develop the next five year regional strategy for HIV and other STIs in the Pacific. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS estimates that in 2012 there were up to 60,000 people living with HIV in the Pacific region, including in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 15th April 2013 - 12:39pm