HIV treatments sent to CAR

The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in March said more than 500 trucks carrying essential supplies sent by the UN and its partners.

CAPE TOWN, June 11 (ANA) – International transport and logistics company Bollore Logistics has facilitated the shipment of HIV treatments to the Central African Republic (CAR), transport industry publication Logistics Update Africa reported on Friday.

Due to the unstable political situation, borders are often closed, causing thousands of trucks to get stuck for months, it said.

By mid-December 2020, shipment of HIV treatments to Bangui in CAR also got stuck at the border of Cameroon. Over two thousand trucks were waiting to pass into CAR for over a month.

According to the publication, there was a lot of uncertainty about the date when borders would reopen and whether electricity for keeping shipments at the right temperature would continue to be available. Some truck drivers decided to pass the border anyway and were attacked by rebels.

The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in March said more than 500 trucks carrying essential supplies sent by the UN and its partners, including food and medicines, were stuck at the border between Cameroon and the CAR, along with 1,100 truckloads of commercial freight, a situation that began when fighting broke out in mid-December as the country prepared to host its elections.

The border blockade has increased the prices of some basic items by as much as 240percent in Bangui and the surrounding areas.

The intense fighting led to a worrying situation in several parts of the country. Thousands of people have been displaced as a result of the conflict.

The difficulty in obtaining food is a particularly serious situation for children, as they are especially vulnerable. According to the UN, almost 2.3 million people are likely to be short of food in the CAR during 2021.

According to Logistics Update Africa, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), sends convoys of trucks into CAR once a week, bringing aid and relief products, food supplies and medicines to the capital.

Bolloré Logistics coordinated the transport together with MINUSCA and their local transporters, after receiving instructions to proceed.

With close collaboration with MINUSCA, Bolloré obtained military protection for four of the trucks, bringing HIV and antimalarial treatments and PPE for the French Red Cross and Worldvision International. Another shipment for the ministry of health is under way.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids (UNaids) in March said the Central African nation made significant progress in its response to HIV over the past four years.

It said new HIV infections continued to decline and the number of people on antiretroviral therapy had increased from fewer than 25,000 in 2016 to more than 47,000 in 2019.

Despite this progress, it said the CAR remained far from the 90–90–90 targets. Less than half of the 100,000 people living with HIV in the country have access to treatment and the government estimates that less than 20 percent of people on treatment have an undetectable viral load.

For those who are on treatment, the quality of care is insufficient. Recent studies revealed a very high rate of immunological and therapeutic failure among people living with HIV on treatment, UNaids said.

Various factors contribute to this situation, including hospital-based management, the unavailability of biological monitoring in rural areas, the lack of human and material resources in health facilities and laboratories and the absence of community-based approaches that promote treatment adherence and information.

– African News agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay