When CMMB launched its ANISA HIV prevention, care and support program in Western Equatoria State of South Sudan in 2009, we weren’t quite sure how bad the HIV problem was.
No one was. Years of war and destroyed infrastructure meant that there were few health workers or standing health clinics to even measure the prevalence of HIV.
Yet, with the generous support of CDC, CMMB launched a five-year HIV prevention and care program for Western Equatoria State, where we suspected there were thousands of HIV cases, and no access to prevention or treatment services. Sadly, we were right.
A new report out this week from CDC’s well-respected Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) confirms alarmingly high HIV prevalence statistics in Western Equatoria State, something CMMB has noted since it launched the project. The investigative report, based upon research conducted with CMMB’s assistance during a June 2012 CDC visit, found HIV prevalence to stand at 13.1 percent among clients testing voluntarily for HIV, and at 10.7 percent among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic. This compares to a global prevalence of .8 percent and Sub-Saharan average of 4.9% prevalence, demonstrating the great need for HIV prevention and treatment services in WES (UNAIDS 2012 Report).
The CDC investigation found several factors that drove the high prevalence of HIV, including unsafe sexual practices (i.e., multiple concurrent sexual partners, inconsistent condom use, transactional sex, and early sexual debut). Other factors included the lasting effects of conflict, poverty, and stigma toward people living with HIV.
Despite this bleak situation, CMMB and its partners (World Vision, the Ministry of Health and a variety of dedicated local NGOs and volunteers) have made great progress since the launch of ANISA. We’ve collectively established several dozen HIV counseling and testing and PMTCT sites, trained hundreds of health workers and volunteers, and tested thousands for HIV. For the first time ever, Western Equatoria State now has function HIV prevention and care services.
In FY2012, CMMB’s ANISA project achieved a variety of successes, including:
· Tested 16,213 people for HIV, referring HIV positive clients for treatment
· Reached 43,121 people with individual or small group HIV prevention messages
· Tested 2,830 pregnant women for HIV, linking HIV-positive moms to treatment to prevent transmitting the virus to their baby
· Cared for more than 6,000 HIV-positive clients with medicines and psychosocial support