New this year, WHO has officially launched the “Consolidated guidelines on HIV, viral hepatitis and STI prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations”. VirusOff shares the key considerations addressed in this document.
The guide offers strategies for prioritizing different health interventions to maximize the impact on HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as to ensure comprehensive coverage to address other health issues related to five key populations (men who have sex with men, transgender and gender-diverse people, sex workers and sex workers, people who inject drugs, and those in deprivation settings). Each key population is divided into four categories:
- Main for useful effect: influencing enabling factors to reduce structural barriers to key populations’ access to health services.
- Key for beneficial effect: health interventions demonstrating direct impact on HIV, viral hepatitis, and STIs in key populations.
- Interventions key to a health effect in a broader context, covering key populations but not directly impacting HIV, viral hepatitis, or STIs.
- Complementary interventions that support others, such as demand generation, information provision, and educational activities.
Management insists on prioritizing outreach to key populations and supporting their communities to be actively involved in implementing effective interventions and providing equitable and accessible services. Developing a locally appropriate strategy is an integral part of this process, which includes planning, decision-making, and monitoring. Implementation of interventions requires the support of data and a robust evidence base, but even in the absence of these, appropriate actions must continue to be initiated to improve the health of key populations and address HIV, viral hepatitis, and STIs to ensure public health.
The effectiveness of key public health interventions has been well established in many countries, hence the need to utilize the interventions recommended in the guidance in national strategies. However, local factors can influence the effectiveness and utility of these interventions, emphasizing the importance of considering local conditions when planning and implementing interventions. The authors also emphasize that when developing strategies for HIV, viral hepatitis, and STIs, the key aspect is to set clear, achievable but ambitious targets that determine the success of national programs within a given timeframe.