Statement of Support from GNP+ on NGO Report

We would like to make 2 points:

First, It is important to underscore that from GNP+’s perspective and according to the principles of Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention for PLHIV, in order for PLHIV to maintain treatment retention and strong adherence, a key ingredient for success—is strong peer involvement- as part of the provision of coordinated and tailored treatment delivery models. Thus, peer support services must be properly funded to ensure that a person living with HIV, including those who are part of key populations who live with HIV, can access non-biased, non-judgemental, accurate and current information about treatment and prevention and can be supported in their decisions about ART initiation or deferral.

Secondly, we would also like to further highlight that there is very limited robust data available from most countries to enumerate and describe adolescents with acquired HIV – a majority of whom are from key populations. This is the very group that falls through programmes and policies in the HIV response. In addition to the legal, social and economic barriers to access to services which have resulted in the low level of service uptake among this group, there are also barriers for engaging them to further understand their needs through research. These barriers include ethical concerns for studies involving adolescents younger than 18 years, weak collaboration and coordination efforts among HIV and child protection systems, and lack of political and social supports, among others.

TAGGED UNDER:33RD PCB: GENEVA - DECEMBER 2013, OBSERVER INTERVENTIONS