Monrovia – With the national HIV prevalence at 2.1%, the National AIDS Commission of Liberia has reported an increase in the number of persons living with HIV in Liberia from about 33,000 persons to 43,200 persons.
According to the National AIDS Commission, the new figure represents Spectrum 2017 Estimates finalized and published by the National AIDS Control Program of the Ministry of Health.
Spectrum is a UNAIDS software that estimates different HIV indicators within the country. Liberia’s population is estimated to be at 4,120,177.
A release from the National AIDS Commission states that according to the Spectrum Estimates, of the 43,200 persons infected with HIV, 24,000 are women while 15,000 are men.
The release further discloses that of the 43,000 persons living with HIV, 39,000 are adults while 4,200 are children.
The number of people living with HIV who are on ART is 8,076 or 18.7%, according to the report.
The report also indicates that for pregnant women, the number in need of ARVs Yearly is 2,000. Of that number, about 1,382 or 69.1% receive ARVs.
Additionally, the report estimates that a total of 2,900 persons are infected with HIV annually, while 2,800 persons die of AIDS related causes annually.
The NACP regularly carries out HIV prevalence studies in pregnant women attending antenatal clinics.
Since 2007, the trajectory of the trend in HIV prevalence in pregnant women has consistently been downward: from 5.4% in 2007, then declining to 4.0% in 2008, 2.6% in 2011, and 2.5% in 2013
The rate of decline in HIV prevalence among pregnant women virtually flatlined between 2011-2013 as compared to that between 2007 and 2011.
The rapid decline in the HIV prevalence among pregnant women occurred at the time of rapid expansion of the HIV prevention interventions for pregnant women and the results could be due to the impact of successful HCT and PMTCT programs.