Using technology to help people infected with HIV in the Central African Republic
Faster testing for HIV in CAR
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“E bata guigui” (let us protect life), is a support group of 2,000 young people and children affected by HIV in the Central African Republic. The group, whose members undergo Antiretroviral therapy (ART), often get together to encourage each other not to give up hope and to help other people get tested for HIV. It was established in 2018 with the support of UNICEF to empower children, adolescents and young people living with HIV.
“I am so proud of our network”, says Dr Cyriac Kango, an HIV/AIDS specialist at Bangui Paediatric Complex and the head of the support group. “Through our work, we can help save lives by reaching out to the community and encouraging people to get tested. Then, we accompany those who are positive through the treatment process”, he adds.
In the Central African Republic, ONUSIDA data show that the HIV prevalence is at 3.4% in 2022, the highest across the West and Central region.
The journey is long, explains Dr Kango, and despite the country having gone a long way in treating HIV, people are not fully aware with less than half of those who tested positive are getting the ART treatment. The situation is even more worrying for children and adolescents: of the children under 15 who are positive, less than a quarter are on treatment.
“It is crucial that they don’t feel that they are alone in this struggle. Reassurance and empathy are key to get people tested and treated,” he insists.
Thanks to support from UNICEF and the French Red Cross, the ministry of Health and Population equipped the eight main health centres in the country with new machines that allow the detection of the virus as well as the level of the viral load within one day.
“This made the process much faster. People can now have their results and all the information they need within one day,” he continues. “The machines made a big difference for us, especially for those living in the rural areas. Before, patients living outside Bangui had to wait for weeks until they get their results as the tests were sent to the capital for analysis. Now, medical personnel can provide the services in their respective districts or at least in the district closest to them”.
The fight against HIV is going one step further. To avoid mother-to-baby transmission, the Ministry of Health & Population with the support of UNICEF is developing protocols to equip the health system on prevention and response. Furthermore, experts are conducting training to midwives on HIV protocols as they often are the main reference for pregnant women.
Nevertheless, testing and treatment are not sufficient for a normal and happy life. Communities play a big role in the well-being of the people with HIV. This year, the health community is putting more emphasis on community engagement in encouraging people to get tested and in reducing the stigma against those who test positive.
"One of the biggest challenges has to do with behavioural or cultural patterns,” shares Dr Kango. “The stigmatisation of persons living with HIV is still high, and at times extreme. There are cases of couples with one partner with HIV who does not disclose the diagnosis to his/her partner, even taking the treatment in secret out of fear. People who know they are seropositive and live in remote villages do not benefit from proper monitoring and treatment because of fear of being seen coming to health facilities. There is also a lot of self-stigmatisations by the patients themselves, who end up developing mental health problems because of feelings of guilt, self-pity, or shame”.
This is where the support group comes in and conduct regular awareness sessions to community and answers their questions to help create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for people with HIV.
Dr Kango has no doubts about the need to involve the communities, and to train all doctors, especially in rural areas and remote village, to follow this approach. He has just come back from Bangassou, where he has spent several days conducting a workshop on HIV patients’ care with physicians working in Haut-Mbomou.
“Yes, we are making progress”, he concludes with satisfaction, “but we cannot let down our guard and we have to continue reaching out to the communities and working with them to defeat HIV”.
