With 24% of the population affected, Lesotho has the second highest HIV rate in the world. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has devastated many parts of the world for too many years. In an effort to completely end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, UNAIDS launched a project in 2015 called 90-90-90: Treatment for All. Their mission is to bring HIV treatment to all who need it. Their ambitious target is that by 2020, three things will be accomplished:
- By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status.
- By 2020, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy
- By 2020, 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
Here at TTL, we serve children and their families who have been ravaged by this disease. HIV can leave our babies malnourished and unable to fight off common illnesses. Thankfully, within the past 12 years, children are more often referred to us with severe acute malnutrition rather than with HIV. Although HIV is still a pressing issue in Lesotho, and we are working to mitigate the effects of HIV in our babies, we gladly report that we have seen fewer numbers of babies who are HIV positive in the past 3 years. Please note that our numbers here do not necessarily reflect the national statistics. We are glad to hear the progress the Kingdom of Lesotho is making toward our 90-90-90 goals.
It is with great pride that we share an article today that shows Lesotho’s progress toward meeting this goal. In this article, we read that Lesotho has reached the first and second 90 of the UNAIDS targets, being 90% of all people living with HIV know their status and 90% of all people with HIV will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy. Currently, 91.8% of people living with HIV in Lesotho are aware of their status on treatment. Additionally, we are also close to reaching the third goal of 90%, with 87.7% of people who are diagnosed and on treatment virally suppressed. These numbers are a wonderful indication of the work people are doing in Lesotho to know their status and receive consistent treatment. We hope to continue striding toward the third goal before the end of the year!
Please visit this link for the full article: https://www.avert.org/news/lesotho-achieves-second-90-after-rapid-treatment-expansion
Additionally, if you are curious about the 90-90-90 project, you can read more about it here: https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/909090
A quick infographic about the power of antiretroviral medicine:
1 Comment
Erin Penney
Oct, 11, 2019This is an amazing foundation. Look at those statistics. I am so proud of my very loving and fearless daughter to be a part of the solution!