World Mental Health Day 2023: We must leave no one behind in the response to HIV and mental health

• Published in: Journal of the International AIDS Society Vol. 26; no. 10; pp. e26183 - n/a
• Main Authors: Wainberg, Milton L, Wolvaardt, George Gustaaf, Gouveia, Lidia, Ferenchick, Erin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-10-2023; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; Antiretroviral agents; Care and treatment; Civil society; Complications and side effects; Development and progression; Drug abuse; Employment; Epidemiology; Health aspects; Health services; HIV; HIV infection; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - epidemiology; HIV Infections - prevention & control; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humanitarianism; Humans; Intervention; Malaria; Medical care; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental Disorders - psychology; Mental Health; Mental health care; Mental illness; Politics; Primary care; Quality management; Quality of life; Vector-borne diseases; Viewpoint; United States; United States > US; South Africa
• DOI: 10.1002/jia2.26183
• EISSN: 1758-2652

At the global level, WHO and UNAIDS recently released new guidance on the integration of mental health services into HIV programming. 1,12,13 This has been accompanied by a commitment to mental health in the 2023–2028 Strategy of the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and PEPFAR's recent commentary 14 outlines their next steps for addressing mental health programming gaps for PLHIV. The e-mwTool leverages technology-based community screening to detect and provide measurement-based care for mental disorders using GPS coordinates, supports facility- and community-level implementation of task-shared evidence-based interventions with rigour and tracks intervention implementation and clinical outcomes. 16–18 The e-mwTool has global relevance and has been validated and is being implemented in other settings as well. 19,20 A research training program in Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, nested in the International Epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA Asia-Pacific), is building local and regional capacity to effectively implement integrated HIV-mental health care strategies using implementation science methods, supporting the adaptation of the e-mwTool to the region. 21 Despite a strong commitment to research and early signs of a shifting landscape, challenges remain. [...]we are able to foster the same level of political and financial commitment for treating depression, anxiety, and substance abuse for PLHIV as we have committed to ensuring equitable access to antiretroviral medicines, we will continue to leave people behind in the HIV response.