Civil society leaders from western and central Africa have laid out a road map to take a more active role in scaling up HIV prevention and treatment services in the region. The eight leaders reiterated that without their involvement and help, it would be difficult to reach people and the treatment goals.
“We want to be more involved, because we are on the ground and we are the people concerned,” said Daouda Diouf, Director of ENDA Dakar and rapporteur of a three-day meeting of civil society, UNAIDS and partners held from 19 to 21 February in Geneva, Switzerland.
In 2016, the western and central Africa region faced disproportionately high AIDS-related deaths compared to its share of the world’s population. Although HIV prevalence in the region remains low, few people living with HIV there have access to treatment.
The leaders pointed out the many challenges they face. In many francophone countries, medical care remains too centralized, carried out mostly in clinics, limiting outreach from peer educators and community workers. They also said that stigma and discrimination keeps people away. National health policies often do not allow civil society to deliver key services, such as HIV testing.
Hidden fees for health services paid by the patient also dissuade people from seeking help. And funding and political will have waned in recent years, reducing their capacities.
Aliou Sylla, Director of Coalition Internationale Sida-Plus, stressed that civil society has many solutions and experience from pilot programmes that have been proven to work.
“Because we have clinics that do not look like clinics, because we do peer-to-peer HIV testing and because we offer counselling, we are much more capable of reaching vulnerable people,” he said. “Just have confidence in us.”
His colleague wholeheartedly agreed. Ibrahima Ba, coordinator at Bokk Yakaar, a nongovernmental organization and leader of the regional network for people living with HIV, added that not only can civil society reach people, it can also monitor the progress of national and regional HIV plans. “Count on us to be implementers, but also watchdogs, so that governments are held accountable.”
The road map includes an upcoming regional meeting bringing together civil society from 12 western and central African countries in order to incorporate their views in national HIV plans. UNAIDS will be advocating for them to have more influence in countries.
In closing the meeting, Deputy Executive Director Luiz Loures said, “The data and the evidence show that we are not optimizing our efforts in the AIDS response in this region.” Looking at the civil society leaders, he concluded, “We need to use civil society as an engine.”
