Brazzaville, 4 May 2005 -- The second induction workshop for officers recruited to support countries in the WHO's African, Eastern Mediterranean, South East Asian and American Regions to implement the global initiative of reaching three million people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWA) with antiretroviral treatment (ART) by 2005, (the "3 by 5" Initiative), got underway Tuesday in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

Speaking at the opening session of the workshop, the Director of Programme Management at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr Paul-Samson Lusamba -Dikassa, said: "This induction workshop is a unique opportunity for learning and sharing experiences about all aspects of the global, regional and country response to HIV/AIDS. The interaction between WHO headquarters, regions, country teams and 3 by 5 officers will cover global concepts and specific technical domains. "

He added that the training and induction activity truly reflected WHO efforts to decentralize resources and to improve circulation of strategic information between all levels of the organization. "We consider this as a milestone to renew our commitment and to harmonize our approaches for the emergency scale-up of the global response to HIV/AIDS", Dr Lusamba-Dikassa said.

The four-day whorkshop, being attended by 16 participants, is expected to produce the second wave of strongly motivated and equipped WHO HIV/AIDS Treatment and Prevention Officers with the relevant knowledge and skills to support activities in countries. The first group of this cadre of officers was inducted and deployed to countries six months ago.

Dr Lusamba-Dikassa explained that the strengthening of WHO country offices was aimed at decentralizing and accelerating support for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment activities in the context of the health sector community and multi-sectoral response. This was being achieved through the adaptation of legislation, policies and national guidelines, the development of institutional and human capacities, increasing resource mobilization including public/private partnerships, and the generation of community-based resources, he said.

In December 2003, WHO and UNAIDS launched the 3 by 5 initiative to support countries in the extension of HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programmes, and early results have been encouraging. The estimated number of PLWA receiving ART in the African Region for example increased from 100, 000 in December 2003 to 325,000 in December 2004. Success rates of antiretroviral therapy in compliant patients are excellent in all regions and antiretroviral therapy observance rates are estimated at 90% in Africa.

However, sub-Saharan Africa still supports 72% of the gap of access to ART with regard to the 3 by 5 target and countries still face major challenges in their efforts to scale up prevention and treatment services. The cost of drugs, laboratory tests and other health services continue to be major constraints.

Dr Lusamba-Dikassa stated that the growing impact of HIV/AIDS in terms of morbidity and mortality had become a crisis jeopardizing development of entire regions in Africa. He pointed out that the vulnerability of women, children and of hard-to-reach populations as well as the rising challenge of drug resistance were major concerns that needed to be addressed. "In this context, the renewed commitment of governments, partners and the strengthening of health and community responses are needed to mitigate the health and socioeconomic impacts of HIV/AIDS", he said.

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