Honduras

Key Results in 2022-2023

Strengthened HIV prevention, testing and care services through the procurement of equipment for government healthcare facilities as well as capacity building and strategic support to community-led service delivery.
The national guidelines for the mandatory testing of HIV and syphilis in pregnant women and newborns were updated.
More than 100 service providers from Comprehensive Care Units and sentinel surveillance clinics for sexually transmitted infections were certified to deliver pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services.
Adolescents and young people living with HIV were empowered to advocate for and defend their rights to HIV and sexual and reproductive health services.

Joint Programme Results

In 2022-2023, the Joint Programme continued to provide strategic support in Honduras to scale up facility- and community-led HIV prevention and treatment services for all. For instance, three priority Comprehensive Care Units at Gabriela Alvarado Hospital, Metropolitano de la Ceiba and San Isidro Hospital received various biomedical equipment, including electrocardiographs and sphygmomanometers strengthening care for people living with HIV, thanks to the financial support from the Joint Programme. This brought to nine the total number of Comprehensive Care Units that benefitted from similar support since 2021 (WHO). In addition, the national HIV and advanced HIV care manual was updated to include detailed guidelines for delivering quality services among people living with various stages of HIV infection (UNAIDS Secretariat). The training of 33 staff from four civil society organizations further accelerated community-led HIV service delivery, including HIV and syphilis testing and counselling (WHO).

In regions with high HIV prevalence, 106 service providers from Comprehensive Care Units and sentinel surveillance clinics for monitoring sexually transmitted infections got certified to deliver PrEP services as part of the combination HIV prevention package. In addition, 3000 copies of PrEP management guidelines were disseminated to government facilities across the country. Civil society organizations have also improved access to HIV prevention commodities, including with the distribution of condoms procured by the Joint Programme; and have strengthened their capacity to advocate for HIV law reforms and mobilize resources for HIV programming (UNAIDS Secretariat).

HIV incidence per 1000 uninfected populations

Source: AIDSinfo

AIDS mortality per 1000 population

Source: AIDSinfo

Progress towards 95-95-95 targets

Source: AIDSinfo

The Government updated its national regulations, protocols and guidelines on the mandatory HIV and syphilis testing among pregnant women and newborns as well as the diagnosis, care and follow-up of children living with HIV and/or congenital syphilis through technical support from the Joint Programme (UNICEF). Furthermore, maternal and congenital syphilis surveillance were established in six regions, improving evidence for programmes for the prevention of vertical transmission of HIV (WHO).

During a national dialogue organized by the Fundación LLAVES, We Lead, the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the Joint Programme, adolescents and young people living with HIV voiced their needs and issues affecting their overall health and development, generating strategic evidence for improving the national HIV response for children, adolescents and young people. These recommendations included ensuring the meaningful participation of children, adolescents and young people in the HIV response, addressing barriers to healthcare services, and challenging gender stereotypes in Honduras (UNICEF).

Young people established a national youth network; and 50 adolescents and young people from Youth League and the Positive Youth Network in eight departments improved their skills on political advocacy to promote and defend the rights of young people to sexual and reproductive health services and comprehensive sexuality education, with a rights-based approach and a gender perspective (UNFPA). In La Lima, San Pedro Sula, Tornabé and Trunfo, around 2400 children, adolescents and young people acquired knowledge on HIV prevention, COVID-19, gender equality and gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and HIV-related stigma and discrimination, through peer mentoring sessions led by 127 trained peers in school settings (UNICEF).

Evidence to strengthen the HIV response and resource mobilization efforts was reinforced through the support provided by the Joint Programme in generating various HIV estimates, rolling out the National AIDS Spending Assessment; mapping out civil society organizations working on HIV; and undertaking an in-depth analysis of the barriers to access HIV services (UNAIDS Secretariat).