Treatment, Care, Support

Introduction

The Alliance believes that appropriate health and social services should be accessible for everyone living with and affected by HIV, in line with the 2005 G8 and WHO targets for universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care by the end of 2010.

This includes HIV testing and counselling, treatment, palliative care, support and prevention. All of these should also be available to children and others who have to face the effects of HIV – caring for or losing parents or siblings, for example.

It is especially important that such services are available and accessible for those most vulnerable, especially sex workers, injecting drug users and men who have sex with men.

Impact on communities

Government inaction, the high costs of medicines and diagnostics (including antiretroviral drugs), under-resourced health systems, stigma and discrimination, all act to undermine the rights of people affected by HIV to treatment, care and support. This leaves most of those in need without access to vital services.

The Alliance approach

A key element of many Alliance programmes is ensuring communities are able to access a broad range of services, through fostering linkages and strengthening referral systems between health care providers. By using a rights-based approach that is rooted in public health and development principles, the Alliance aims to increase access to quality health care for all people with HIV, and to advocate for this as a matter of great urgency.

HIV counselling and testing is the gateway to treatment – without an accurate diagnosis, treatment cannot start. It is also the gateway to other forms of support and to supporting preventive behaviours, whether the person is HIV positive or negative. The Alliance is making a significant contribution to the provision of HIV testing, pre- and post-test counselling, and linking communities with testing facilities.

Even where antiretroviral treatment is available, safe and effective roll out requires the active engagement of communities affected by HIV and people living with HIV. The Alliance helps build community structures and community leadership, especially from people living with HIV, to support and endorse the introduction and use of these powerful medical technologies.

This process of community engagement challenges traditional models of health care that are resource intensive and have relied heavily on doctors and other health care workers as the main drivers in delivering healthcare. The Alliance works to strengthen the interface between health systems and communities, and to support the active engagement of people living with HIV and their communities in the provision of safe and effective antiretroviral treatment.

In addition to medical treatment, the Alliance supports community- and home-based care for people living with HIV, their families and caregivers. Interventions include psychosocial support, supplementary nutrition, and assisting and empowering communities to establish support groups.

Achievements to date

In 2008:

• 437,995 individuals received pre-test counselling, testing and/or post-test counselling
• 515,287 people were referred through Alliance programmes to other services (mainly HIV testing, STI diagnosis and/ or treatment, PMTCT and antiretroviral treatment)
• 521,811 people were reached by home- and community-based care
• 32,442 people were directly provided with antiretroviral treatment.

Our partners

• Stop TB Partnership
• TB Alert