Guyana
Total Treatment Sites:		0
Treatment Site Location(s):		Project office in Georgetown
Patients on ART:		n/a
Patient Enrolled:		n/a
Report in PDF Format:		Guyana Country Report

Background and HIV/AIDS in Guyana

Guyana is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and is the second poorest country in the Caribbean region, behind Haiti.  The major ethnic groups are: East Indian origin (43%); African origin (30%); mixed (17%); and Amerindian (9%).  Life expectancy is 59 years for men and 64 years for women.  The adult literacy rate is 96.5%.  85% of the population live in the coastal Regions while 9% live in the rural interior Regions.

A former British territory, Guyana gained independence in 1966 and became a republic in 1970.  President Bharrat Jagdeo is the executive head of both state and government; Samuel Hinds is the Prime Minister.  There are several levels of elected government ranging from a 40-member parliament to the 10 Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs).  The RDCs are administratively responsible for delivery of health, education and other services to their populations.  Guyana is no longer considered a Low Income Developing Country and is currently categorized as a Low Middle-Income Developing Country.  Primary industries include mining, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and manufacturing.

In addition to the human resource shortage, a major health challenge in Guyana is equitable access to care.  The vast majority of private facilities are in Georgetown and other urban centers; 70% of physicians are in Georgetown where only 25% of the population lives.

According to Guyana’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy 2007-2011, the epidemic is stabilizing, likely due to increased VCT at health care centers, NGOs, and in the private sector.  However, sub-populations still have higher than average prevalence rates.  Most at risk populations include: youth, women of childbearing age, commercial sex workers (27% prevalence in 2004), mobile populations such as miners and loggers (3.9% in 2004), and men who have sex with men (MSM) in Region 4 (21% in 2004).  Also, now more women than men are recorded as HIV positive, especially in the 15-24 age group.

Region 4 accounts for 69% of cumulative (1989-2006) cases even though the region has 41.3% of the population.  Most of the other regions had a lower proportion of reported HIV cases relative to their populations.  Regions 2 and 10 also stand out with a high proportion of AIDS cases relative to their 2006 populations.

AHF Activities in Guyana

AHF will begin work in Guyana in June 2009 as part of Management Sciences for Health’s consortium of international partners implementing the Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction and Prevention Project (GHARP II).  In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, civil society, and for-profit sector, GHARP II is designed to strengthen HIV/AIDS health systems.  Working with the National AIDS Program Secretariat (NAPS) to develop innovative models, GHARP II will increase preventive interventions, particularly for most-at-risk populations (MARPs) such as commercial sex workers (CSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM).

AHF is the main partner supporting voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services and will provide short and long-term technical assistance and training to colleagues from NAPS and local NGOs.  After an initial needs assessment, AHF/GHARP II will collaborate with NAPS to expand programming, increase coverage, standardize and strengthen the quality of existing VCT and PMTCT services.