WHO says HIV effort let down by test shortages.

Experts from the World Health Organization has warned that shortage of HIV testing could undermine global efforts to diagnose and treat people with the infection, using responses to annual surveys that the WHO had sent to 127 countries between 2012 and 2014 asking about capacity and usage of blood tests that check HIV status and health.

The experts found worrying gaps in provision and has warned that United Nation targets for HIV could be missed as a result.

The targets revealed that by 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV should know their HIV status, 90% of those diagnosed should receive antiretroviral therapy and 90% of these treated patients should have “durable viral suppression” (a measure of effective treatment) as laboratory testing is vital to meet and monitor these aims.

Vincent Habiyambere and his colleagues has said in the journal PLoS Medicine that some low and middle-income countries, including African countries where the HIV burden is high, are not yet geared up for the challenge, adding that, a national laboratory strategic plan to strengthen services must be developed, implemented, and monitored by governments and their national and international partners.

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