Meet the Regional Coordinator

Sylvere Bukiki, West Africa Treatment Action Group (WATAG), ITPC West Africa             

Interviewed by Ed Attapon Ngoksin 

E: Please introduce yourself.

S: My name is Sylvere Biziyaremye. I have been working for more than seven years on HIV in Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Prior to working with ITPC/WATAG, I assisted the coordinator of the Global Fund’s AIDS Programme, called OASIS, operating in southern regions of the Ivory Coast. I also specialized in prevention strategies on HIV among youth in urban areas in my student years.

E: What was your most recent achievement as the regional coordinator for West Africa?

S: In June, we organized a workshop in Dakar on treatment literacy and advocacy for universal access. It was a training of trainers oriented for HIV Collaborative Fund grantees in 15 countries across the region. This was the first time that key international stakeholders, such as ITPC, UNAIDS, WHO, World Aids Campaign and Alliance/IPC, jointly organized something on a regional scale.

It was the result of a few months of discussions and preparation with all the partners. We recognized that this topic is a regional priority decided at last year’s Regional Advisory Committee meeting in Accra. We overcame language barriers (French, English, Portuguese) by providing simultaneous translations and included many break-out sessions so participants felt comfortable speaking out, and thus the level of participation was high. Lastly, the country selection was well thought out and transparent. Each country was represented by two participants, of whom one was experienced in community-based outreach activities and the other specialized in networking of positive people and regional organization activities. While the level of expertise varied, they actually complemented each other. 

E: What is treatment literacy and why it is important?

S: Treatment literacy is information about the science behind the disease and treatment. When people are more aware of the science and how their meds work and why adherence is critical, they understand prevention strategies better and know how to reduce transmission risks. Until now, we still have not done enough to reach out to the far-away communities and educate them about HIV. Treatment education is a business for big organizations in big cities only. As much as we want to push for our government to prevent the problems of drug stock-outs, if the communities do not know the name of the drugs and the guidelines, they cannot react or make propositions to the government. Join the rally and shout 'We need yellow-blue capsules for AIDS' is not good enough. We need to know the name of the drugs and their side effects. Treatment literacy promotes advocacy around access to treatment and service delivery. 

In West Africa, there is still a long way to go in dealing with education, let alone HIV treatment education. Literacy of mothers is particularly important for their children and family members: being able to read and understand nutritional and health information on medicine bottles, having the confidence to deal with health professionals and request treatment. The study points out that educated African women are three to five times more likely to know basic information about HIV/AIDS as illiterate women. So the problem isn’t HIV treatment literacy alone, but the literacy of education and life skills in general.

 

E: What was the highlight of the event?

S: We had the testimony evening on Universal Access, which was attended by local activists and UN country representatives, to listen to how the issues of drug stock-outs, reduction of international funding and unaffordable prices of essential medicine affect individuals and communities. I remember Aminata Kante, an outspoken female activist from Guinea Conakry, challenged that her government does not do enough to provide support to people living with HIV. Having lived with HIV for 24 years, she often buys her medicine abroad, which is very costly, or else she takes expired drugs because the required ones are out of stock.

E: What was the feedback from participants and co-organizers?

S: They have learned a lot from the workshop and suggest a similar activity be implemented at the country level. Community activists valued the professionalism of UNAIDS/WHO trainers and started a dialogue on educating broader communities about the new WHO guidelines. WHO is now looking to organize similar workshops in Gambia and Côte d’Ivoire. We have been in consultation with them on scaling up treatment literacy programs and helping them reaching out to communities in target countries.

Did you know?

A Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) is a regional governing body of the International Treatment Prepared Coalition. Each of the 11 regions has its own RAC, chosen by ITPC members within the region and responsible for identifying regional policy and advocacy priorities for ITPC programmes, particularly grant programmes. They ensure strategy and work plans are created with the regional coordinator and support national-level advocacy initiatives.