The efforts carried out by Ministry of Health (MOH) have contributed in many influential achievements, in terms of providing preventive and therapeutic services to HIV-positive people, especially in the areas of medical surveys, early detection of cases, start of treatment, as well as providing the mental and rehabilitative care for patients and their families. This has been attained by means of establishing specialized therapeutic centers, which amounted to 11 therapeutic centers in each of Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Taif, Asir, Jazan, Dammam, and Madinah.
The MOH stated that this action led to increased treatment coverage for beneficiaries, thus paving the way to achieve the goal (90-90-90), which is declared by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to end AIDS epidemic by 2030.
It is worth mentioning that the MOH contributed to celebrating the World AIDS Day, held this year under the theme: “Dignity above all”. It also highlighted that the capacity number of people with HIV, receiving health care and treatment at the MOH’s centers for AIDS treatment, has increased from 3,929 cases by the end of 2014 to 4,870 cases by the end of 2015. More than 91% of those who have received antiviral therapy achieved the stage of viral suppression (which is one of the key indicators of the person’s response to AIDS therapy).
The MOH went on adding that according to the UNAIDS’s new report on “The Fast Track to End AIDS Epidemic by 2030”, this objective, by 2020, will provide the ability for 90% of those people with HIV to realize if they are HIV positive or not, for 90% of those who have been diagnosed as being HIV-positive to receive sustained antiviral therapy, and for 90% of those receiving antiviral therapy to achieve viral suppression.