Five Years of Implementing HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care in Gabon
Successes and challenges: Increasing access to quality services improves HIV/AIDS outcomes
December 15, 2025
UNAIDS 95-95-95 indicators reported by DHAPP (2020–2023) and the Gabonese National HIV/AIDS program (2019–2022).
Since 2019, MCD Global Health has led the U.S. Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP) in Gabon. The program aims to provide technical support and strengthen capacity through a wide range of activities to improve HIV testing, coverage of antiretroviral treatment (ART) and psychosocial care, and access to viral load testing for clients visiting military health facilities.
To achieve these goals, MCD, along with Gabon’s Military Program for the Fight Against HIV/AIDS (PMLS by its French acronym) and Ministry of Health, have organized training courses on HIV prevention, screening, care, and treatment for more than 500 military health workers, provided critical commodities and supported formative supervision to improve HIV services in 14 facilities in Libreville and the interior of the country.
Successful provision of commodities to improve access:
- 229,000 male condoms distributed, and group or individual sessions offered to raise awareness about preventing HIV/AIDS.
- Around 24,500 HIV rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) used for screening purposes, and the index case screening strategy implemented for the first time in Gabon military health facilities.
- 1,040 Xpert-HIV-1 cartridges made available, free of charge, to PLHIV undergoing treatment at military facilities.
Thanks to the project team’s efforts, the three key HIV indicators have substantially increased in the targeted population: exceeding the first UNAIDS objective of 95% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) knowing their status and closing gaps between the other two UNAIDS objectives of 95% PLHIV being on ART and 95% of those ones being virally suppressed.
Compared with the nearly unchanged HIV indicators at the national level, this shows how a comprehensive program can effectively contribute to improved HIV/AIDS outcomes.
MCD’s DHAPP Project Director Luc Armel NKALA MFOULOU is no stranger to managing and implementing different initiatives to prevent HIV/ AIDS in Gabon. With a master’s degree in molecular physiopathology and nearly a decade of experience working on HIV projects, he uses his knowledge and skills to ensure success in delivering highquality HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, care, and treatment services.
In terms of meeting these universal goals, Luc Armel believes that the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS’ guidelines on HIV prevention are effective when properly implemented, such as using male condoms correctly during intercourse, being screened for HIV often to receive treatment if positive, and others.
“It’s important to guarantee safe access to harm reduction programs for intravenous drug users and others. If prevention approaches were understood and adhered to, the number of new HIV infections would decrease in the future,” Luc Armel said. “As a native Gabonese, I’m proud to contribute to the f ight against HIV/AIDS in my country.”
This story originally appeared in MCD's 2024 Annual Report.