Pierre Angulaire :: Contexte ::

Background

For two decades and despite many efforts, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been the leading cause of mortality among young adults in Côte d'Ivoire, where its prevalence in general population is estimated at 9,5%.

The very high costs of the drugs and laboratory support are reported to be the common obstacles to the accessibility to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in resource-limited countries.

The reduced cost of antiretroviral therapy and the advent of the global funds offer opportunities to design strategies that can improve access to ARVs for PLHIV.

World Heath Organization (WHO) estimated that six million people living in the developing countries should have access to antiretroviral therapy to stay alive in year 2002. But only 5% of them (i.e. 300,000 people) have access to antiretroviral therapy today; half of these people live in Brazil.

Côte d'Ivoire, with over one million of PLHIV, has implemented ARVs in resource-limited countries with the UNAIDS pilot access initiative. About a half-decade after initiating that evaluation, not more than 6,000 people really benefited from these drugs. Moreover, the majority of the recipients live in the capital, Abidjan, and in very few urban zones of the country.