Missing the Target #5: Improving AIDS Drug Access ... - CD8 T cells

In this fifth installment of the Missing the Target report series, we are broadeningand deepening our approach to monitoring AIDS service delivery in heavily affectedcountries. Seventeen teams (from Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America)participated in the development of this report. And we are beginning the processof expanding the focus of the report series to incorporate more of the inextricablyinterwoven aspects of ending AIDS, including HIV prevention, TB services, andsupport services.Scaling up AIDS servicesIn the first section of MTT5, nine countryteams provide first-hand reports on centralissues related to AIDS service scale-up in theircountries. Each demonstrates that increasingaccess to AIDS treatment brings not onlybetter life and new hope, but also shines lighton challenges and effective approaches to aspectrum of health, poverty, and human rightsissues.The goal of getting AIDStreatment to more andmore people is working,saving millions of lives,and transformingpeople’s relationship tohealth servicesaround the world.The Missing the Target team in Cambodia found that low salaries,inadequate training and other issues have led to a serioushuman resources shortfallCameroon describes how lack of nutritional resources has emergedas a determining factor in delivering careIn China, a close analysis reveals that multiple charges for AIDS-relatedhealth services exist, even in the context of a “free” ARV programIn the Dominican Republic, there is an increasing level of ARV coveragebut the government must now address poorly supported public hospitalsand limited access to specialized careIn India, the national AIDS authority has just announced a long awaitedsecond-line therapy plan; much greater attention is needed tomarginalized populationsIn Kenya, the report team documents the devastating impact ofstigma and discrimination on health service deliveryThe Russia team reviews the deadly combination of poverty,powerlessness and social discrimination among marginalized groupsIn Zambia, a district-by-district survey identifies multiple and variablebarriers to care, including limited access to diagnostic tests, poor nutrition,and long travel times to clinics2