Successful capacity building Knowledge Share Fair held in Trinidad and Tobago
Tuesday, 02 April 2024, (PANCAP Coordinating Unit, CARICOM Secretariat): The Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), the mechanism that provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic, held a Knowledge Share Fair and capacity building forum on Thursday, March 21, 2024, in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
The primary objectives of this event were to understand the importance, relevance, and advantages of multi-disease strategic plans, enhance the understanding of the integration of services for greater efficiency in service delivery and the reduction of stigma and discrimination, and strengthen the networking between National AIDS Programme (NAP) Managers and Civil Society Organisations (CSO).
This Knowledge Share Fair provided participants with excellent opportunities, through a series of multi-country working group sessions, to foster greater networking, collaboration and problem-solving to strengthen integration. The participants identified key priorities for the integration of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, viral hepatitis B and C and Tuberculosis at the national level.
Knowledge Management Coordinator for the PANCAP Knowledge for Health Project, Dr. Shanti Singh-Anthony was pleased with the overwhelming participation of attendees and charged them to take the knowledge gained from this Knowledge Share Fair back to their respective jurisdictions and apply it strategically to achieve successful results. “I am heartened by the participation and involvement of all the attendees and the spirited exchanges we’ve had during this Knowledge Share Fair. Much information was exchanged and I would like to see much of what was learnt here today taken back and implemented as a means to buttress the respective national programmes across the region.”
Dr Singh-Anthony also expressed her sincere gratitude to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for funding the PANCAP Knowledge Management Project and the Share Fair. She also thanked the Pan-American Health Organization for providing technical support in the planning and implementing of the Share Fair, as well as The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS.
WHAT IS PANCAP?
PANCAP is a Caribbean regional partnership of governments, regional civil society organisations, regional institutions and organisations, bilateral and multilateral agencies and contributing donor partners established on 14 February 2001. PANCAP provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic, and coordinates the response through the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS to maximise efficient use of resources and increase impact, mobilise resources and build the capacity of partners.
What are the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026 targets and commitments?
If targets and commitments in the strategy are achieved:
- The number of people who newly acquire HIV will decrease from 1.7 million in 2019 to less than 370 000 by 2025
- The number of people dying from AIDS-related illnesses will decrease from 690 000 in 2019 to less than 250 000 in 2025.
- The goal of eliminating new HIV infections among children will see the number of new HIV infections drop from 150,000 in 2019 to less than 22,000 in 2025.
What are the 95-95-95 Targets for ending AIDS?
- 95% of People Living with HIV know their HIV status;
- 95% of people who know their status on treatment; and
- 95% of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads.
HELPFUL LINKS:
Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026, End Inequalities, End AIDS
https://pancap.org/pancap-documents/global-aids-strategy-2021-2026-end-inequalities-end-aids/
Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS (CRSF) 2019-2025
https://pancap.org/pancap-documents/caribbean-regional-strategic-framework-2019-2025/