The International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on expanding access to HIV testing, care, treatment and support services globally.
According to details available on Tuesday, the IAPAC will work with UNAIDS to expand access to HIV care and treatment in a way that takes into account the importance of optimising the treatment cascade.
In doing so, they will address the testing, linkage to care, and long-term engagement in care barriers that attenuate the full benefit of antiretroviral therapy – both for therapeutic and preventative effect.
The MoU will be focussed towards sharing information from and with providers of HIV prevention, care and treatment services related to best practices in scaling up testing, care, and treatment.
It will also help to address gaps in the HIV treatment cascade with an emphasis on more testing, treating, and retaining more people in care with equal focus to enhance and improve the role of community health providers in achieving these objectives.