Addis Ababa, December 3 (IANS). The United Nations has called for significant action to provide better health services for displaced people living with HIV in Ethiopia.
In a statement issued on Monday in connection with World AIDS Day, observed on December 1 every year, the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said Ethiopia is facing a crisis linked to conflict, climate change and displacement, which is fueled by People in need, including people living with HIV, are not receiving essential health and other humanitarian assistance.
“The UN agency cited a recent joint mission to internally displaced persons in two regions of Ethiopia most affected by humanitarian crises, Xinhua news agency reported. “They are struggling with rising rates of HIV.”
The agency said the biggest shortcoming is the lack of comprehensive health care, with people living with HIV particularly vulnerable.
It says that during humanitarian crises, critical services related to HIV and sexual and reproductive health are often overlooked in the face of urgent needs for food, shelter and disease control.
“Health care is limited to primary services,” the report said. Care for chronic diseases such as HIV is handed over to government hospitals. “This means all patients must pay for transportation as well as services and purchase critical medical supplies on their own, an impossible burden for many.”
UNAIDS said that while international organizations are stepping up their efforts to combat HIV on a humanitarian basis, there are also coordinated efforts in Ethiopia to ensure that the health needs of people living with HIV are met, Including people living in the most challenging circumstances.
In a message on World AIDS Day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is possible, but only if global leaders work together to remove barriers to health care and uphold human rights.” be committed to.”
–IANS
MKS/AS
