Media Releases – Page 15

Dereck, Director Emeritus and his passion— Justice for All

From my first engagement with Dereck after he was appointed Director in September 2013, I instinctively knew that he was someone special. My continuous association with him over the period of his tenure has proven that original instinct was ‘spot on’.

It is fitting that the theme of this tribute, “A man of the time for the time” has been organised by his adoring PANCAP staff. It is an apt description of Dereck. It echoes the sentiments of the entire Partnership that he is the creative leader, the fearless advocate for change and the stickler for “on time” action and “on time” deliverables. He is a man filled with passion to succeed, to champion the cause of the marginalized groups, to inspire the youth, to consolidate a Partnership of diverse communities around the theme, “Justice for All”.

I am aware of his strength of character, his ever willingness to confront the status quo, never backing down from the mission, “not leaving anyone behind”. But his passionate and resolute advocacy were always accompanied by thorough preparation, commitment to facts, impeccable logic and persuasive articulation.

Dereck recognises that if the Caribbean were to achieve the goal of ending AIDS by 2030, attention must be paid to affirming access to those most affected, most prominent among them, the LGBTQ population. It still is not a popular stand among important quarters of our Caribbean Community but it is the correct one. And in this regard as in so many other instances, Dereck has stood his ground. In so doing, he brought on board the parliamentarians, the faith leaders, the National AIDS Programme Managers, Civil society and youth to the table. This is a true example of functional cooperation that facilitates a “more community for all”.

Dereck, a thinker outside the box is highly regarded by Heads of Government, Ministers of Government, the Private sector, civil society, other regional and international partners. He has represented PANCAP and the Region with distinction and deserves every accolade. Let us not lose the talents of this gifted and remarkable human being. What about the title PANCAP Director Emeritus!

Director’s message – February 2020

Today I say goodbye to the Partnership. It was indeed a privilege to serve this dynamic Partnership over the last nine years, six and a half as Director. My wish when I took the reins as Director was that I would leave the Partnership better than I found it. Your many tributes over the last six months suggest that I have done so. Together we are now stronger and more resilient.

I am deeply grateful to my dedicated staff for their unwavering support to me and the Partnership. The staff believe in our mission, and although few, every day they demonstrate an unrivalled passion and commitment to serve the people of the Caribbean. No task is ever too great for the staff of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit. They gave me the strength to embrace each day with gratitude, enthusiasm and humility. I owe our success to them.

I thank the Secretary-General of CARICOM for affording me the opportunity to serve the community and the wider Caribbean. I extend a special thank you to the Deputy Secretary-General for helping me to navigate many minefields and her willingness to always give me an audience, to listen and provide guidance and support. I thank my supervisor, Dr Douglas Slater for his confidence and for giving me the freedom to provide the leadership required for fulfilling our mandate and advancing the Partnership. A special thank you to the heads of departments and staff of the CARICOM Secretariat for their guidance and support.

I was inspired by Chancellor John Edward Greene, who mentored and supported me while modelling bold leadership and finesse while engaging with the political leadership in the Caribbean. I sincerely thank him.

Professor Peter Figueroa was unwavering in his support to me and the Partnership. I thank him for being a source of strength and encouragement.

I express sincere gratitude to our International Development Partners; The Global Fund and PEPFAR-USAID-CDC, PAHO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNDP, UNICEF and others and the key players in the Partnership, including the Lead Head for Human Resource, Health and HIV, Board and PACC members, regional partners, Ministers, National AIDS Programme Managers, Chief Medical Officers, Permanent Secretaries, youth, civil society, key populations leaders, faith leaders, parliamentarians, academia, media and others, for investing in PANCAP and for your overwhelming support over the last six and a half years.

I wish you all success and look forward to a stronger Partnership under the leadership of our new Director, Dr Rosmond Adams.

New PANCAP Director Appointed

Wednesday 26 February 2020 (PANCAP Coordinating Unit, CARICOM Secretariat): The Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) welcomes the appointment of Dr Rosmond Adams as the new Director effective 2 March 2020.

A Vincentian by birth, Dr Adams is a Medical Doctor by training and holds Master of Science degrees in both Public Health and Bioethics. He is a public health specialist with more than ten years of experience in the health sector both at the national and regional levels in the areas of surveillance, communicable diseases including HIV, emergency response and health security.

Dr Adams began his public health career as the Coordinator of the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) programme in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. He then served as the National Epidemiologist where his work focused on strengthening public health surveillance and strategic information to guide health policy, programmes and action.

In his previous post, he served as the Head of Health Information, Communicable Diseases and Emergency Response at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) where he led the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Caribbean Regional Health Security Strategy as a common strategic framework for the CARPHA Member States to strengthen their capacity to manage and respond to emerging disease threats and other public health emergencies.

Dr Adams serves on numerous national, regional and international public health advisory committees, including the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Coordinating Mechanism (GCM) on NCDs. Asked about his immediate priority, the Director emphasised that the sustainability of the region’s HIV response is paramount. “The HIV and AIDS epidemic is a threat to Regional Health Security considering that our productive population is being impacted,” stated Dr Adams, “I am optimistic that the region can end AIDS, but a lot of work must be done and the gains made so far must be sustained whilst ensuring that we scale up our response and renew our commitment to this goal”.

Dr Adams succeeds Mr Dereck Springer whose tenure ends on 28 February 2020.

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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 which was established on 14 February 2001. PANCAP provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic, coordinates the response through the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS to maximise efficient use of resources and increase impact, mobilises resources and build capacity of partners.

Contact:

Timothy Austin
Senior Project Officer, Communications
PANCAP Coordinating Unit
CARICOM Secretariat
Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana
Email: taustin.consultant@caricom.org
Tel: (592) 222-0001-06, Ext. 3409 | Visit www.PANCAP.org

Helpful links:

History of PANCAP
https://pancap.org/who-we-are/about-pancap/history-of-pancap/

PANCAP’s achievements
https://pancap.org/who-we-are/about-pancap/achievements/

PANCAP’s Executive Board
https://pancap.org/who-we-are/governance-bodies/executive-board/

PANCAP Knowledge Exchange promotes successful models of care for key populations

Friday 14 February 2020 (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, has collaborated with the Integral Orientation and Research Center/Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN) to facilitate a learning exchange focused on Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and successful HIV testing strategies for key populations to access prevention and treatment. The capacity-building initiative will be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from 17-21 February 2020. The two entities previously collaborated on a learning journey in June 2018.

The initiative is led by Dr Shanti Singh-Anthony, Knowledge Coordinator, PANCAP, who explained that the learning exchange was designed for participants to experience first-hand the process utilised by COIN to coordinate and collaborate with the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, other civil society organisations and stakeholders to deliver comprehensive HIV services in communities and to key populations.

The learning exchange will also expose participants to components of a Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) programme, which serves as a highly effective prevention modality, and successful HIV testing and linkage strategies for key populations.

At the conclusion of the learning exchange, participants will be tasked with developing country-specific action plans to enhance in-country collaboration among civil society organisations and representatives of the national HIV programme to improve how key populations access prevention, testing and treatment.

Countries participating in the learning exchange are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Participants will comprise country teams of National AIDS Programme Managers and civil society organisation (CSO) representatives. A total of ten persons from the six countries will participate and interact with representatives of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, Dominican Republic, COIN, and other CSO representatives. Participants will also engage with the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, National HIV response and community-based organisations through site visits to clinics and outreaches.

The learning exchange is supported with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

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What is PANCAP?

What is the Integral Orientation and Research Center/Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN)?

The Integral Orientation and Research Center/Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN) is a private, social interest institution of the Dominican Republic, created on November 28, 1988, by a multidisciplinary team of people with shared experience in community and health work. Born as a result of the emergence of the HIV and AIDS epidemic and trafficking in persons in the Dominican Republic, COIN has concentrated its efforts on implementing educational programmes.

COIN’s programmes focus on prevention, health care and social discrimination. The entity implements innovative strategies and approaches that serve to empower key populations. In their work with marginalized populations, COIN promotes the integration of the community in the identification of their needs and problems and works with them to define policies and execute solutions. COIN currently operates in the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Haiti with 82 staff.

Contact:

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria 2020 – 2022 Funding Allocation

In this news bulletin from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, PANCAP members and partners are asked to note the 2020-2022 fund allocations for the Region. For more information on the Global Fund’s allocation, click here.

Director’s Message – January 2020

Despite the substantial resources invested in the Caribbean region, we continue to be challenged by inadequate and unreliable data to help us to describe our epidemic accurately and inform programming. While significant progress has been made, the region is behind in achieving the 90-90-90 Targets by the end of 2020. The Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS (CRSF) 2019-2025 acknowledges that insufficient data-driven programming limits efforts to efficiently target activities to the geographic locations and populations in greatest need. The CRSF therefore, recognises that there is an urgent need to define a regional HIV research agenda that aligns with the priorities outlined in the CRSF, and which is anchored in the established academic institutions of the region.

Over the last three years, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has expanded a regional data repository to facilitate reporting on the CRSF indicators, thus providing an opportunity to simplify reporting by enabling country reporting to be streamlined and shared with other organisations as needed (CRSF 2019-2025). However, data gaps persist, as data were available for only 13 of the 28 indicators for the CRSF 2014-2018, largely because of limited site-level data management and slow reporting to national levels. While key population size estimates have improved, data collection from civil society organisations remains a gap. CARPHA has been working with countries to develop strategic information action plans to improve reporting.

Given our current reality, defining the regional HIV research agenda is high on PANCAP’s list of priorities for 2020. In this regard, the Priority Areas Coordinating Committee (PACC) has provided guidance to the Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Working Group on Health on the process for determining the research agenda as well as the monitoring and evaluation needs which will be costed subsequently. This process is crucial for guiding research efforts and site-level available resources. The agenda would include among others, research, testing, treatment, adherence, retention, service delivery, and stigma and discrimination, that would inform regional policy change and improve outcomes for People living with and affected by HIV and key populations.

Implementation of the research agenda requires a paradigm shift, from thinking about data for reporting to thinking about data for use throughout programming. We must be cognizant of the need to also invest in data systems that inform programming. Successful implementation of the research agenda specifically requires the support of our universities that possess the skills to conduct such research, donor support and commitment from our national partners to facilitate the collection of data. Given the urgency, let us all commit to supporting the Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Working Group on Health to define a regional HIV research agenda.

Jamaica combats lack of knowledge about human rights, HIV and gender-based violence

To combat the lack of knowledge about human rights, HIV and gender-based violence among Jamaicans, the National Family Planning Board and its partners executed the “Rispek” Public Education Tour. The tour aimed to provide information on sexual and reproductive health, including HIV, to promote human rights and respect for others, and provide education on the social and legal aid services available to the public.

The tour was launched in August 2019 and consisted of eight phases. Communities within eight of the fourteen parishes in Jamaica benefited from the activities. These communities were selected for Targeted Community Interventions (TCIs) by the Regional Health Authorities, based on vulnerability and incidences of violence and HIV. Community members were also able to access free HIV testing and other healthcare services.

PEPFAR commences 2020 Regional Operational Planning Process

By Victoria Nibarger, PEPFAR Coordinator, Caribbean Regional Programme

During the week of 27 January 2019, the Caribbean Regional Program of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) kicked off its 2020 Regional Operational Planning process, which covers the FY21 implementation period.

Following two days of internal meetings, PEFPAR hosted a number of regional stakeholders in Kingston for a three-day strategic planning meeting. Participants of the meeting reviewed FY20 achievements, current activities, and discussed the approaches needed to accelerate progress towards epidemic control.

Attendees included ministry of health officials, civil society representatives, private clinicians, multilateral organisation representatives, implementing partners, and others.

CMLF highlights OECS Member States’ Laboratory Achievements

At the OECS Ministers Policy Meeting held in December 2019, the Caribbean Med Labs Foundation (CMLF) highlighted the achievements made by OECS Member States with respect to their laboratory services. During the meeting, Honourable Mary Issacs, Minister of Health and Wellness, Saint Lucia presented a Certificate to Antigua & Barbuda’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Rhonda Sealey-Thomas, recognising the achievement of Mount St. John’s Medical Centre (MSJMC) Laboratory in meeting Tier 1 requirements of the Caribbean Laboratory Quality Management Systems – Stepwise Improvement Process (LQMS-SIP) in August 2019.

Also recognised were Grenada and Saint Lucia for efforts regarding the National Laboratory Policy adoption. Both countries have approved policies. Draft legislation and National Laboratory Policy have been submitted to the Attorney General’s Office by the respective Ministries of Health in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Kitts and Nevis. At a meeting of Permanent Secretaries, Chief Medical Officers and their representatives, hosted by CMLF in November 2019, a “common implementation plan” was developed for the adoption and implementation of national laboratory policies and legislation within the six OECS Member States that are participants in the OECS Global Fund Continuation Grant for HIV and TB Elimination (HTEP).

Under the HTEP, four OECS Member States, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have received and introduced, with appropriate training, GeneXpert technology for molecular testing. The public laboratories in these countries have begun to utilise GeneXpert for Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB) and drug resistance testing as well as for HIV Viral Load testing. GeneXpert testing has been integrated into the algorithm for TB diagnosis in these countries as part of their plans for TB Elimination. Plans are underway for expansion of testing to include Chlamydia and Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) for HIV.

Dominica and Saint Kitts and Nevis will receive GeneXpert technology and training early in 2020 under this GF HTEP. The introduction of this technology within the OECS represents a significant step forward for these small island states, in providing capacity to conduct molecular testing on this multiplex platform for a wide and expanding variety of infectious diseases.

In an important step forward, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has become the first OECS country to assign a separate budget to its public laboratory services. Discussions at both Ministers and National Lab Policy and Legislation Implementation meetings focused on strategies for addressing the ongoing challenge of financial and human resource deficiencies in these countries to improve resources for laboratory services.

Belize’s Equal Opportunity Bill intends to enhance quality of life

Image: Mr Enrique Romero, Executive Director of the National AIDS Commission (NAC) during the Equal Opportunity Bill press conference

Belize’s Anti-Discrimination Steering Committee (ASC) has commenced public engagement and education on the proposed Equal Opportunity Bill (EOB).

The Bill intends to improve the lives of all Belizeans by ensuring equal access to public services, including health care. The legislation aims to remove barriers so that all Belizeans can enjoy the same opportunities regardless of circumstances. It seeks to protect Belizeans from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. The areas of public life covered under the Bill include employment (full-time, part-time and casual), provision of goods and services, education, accommodation (including rental and hotel accommodation), sport, club and club membership, transfer of land and administration of laws and programming.

HIV Prevention and Care

The EOB makes specific reference to HIV prevention and care. It prohibits screening for HIV regarding employment and education. It promotes the implementation of sanctions for breaches of confidentiality regarding HIV status. The legislation also advocates for allowing persons over the age of 16 to access HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevention, testing and treatment to lower risks of HIV transmission, sickness or death.

In addition, the EOB supports the formation of an Equal Opportunities Tribunal; a specialist court integrated into the Justice System with the rank of a supreme court.

Champions of the Bill

The organisations championing the EOB are the National AIDS Commission (NAC), the Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation, Poverty Alleviation and the Office of the Special Envoy for Women and Children. Several prominent Belizeans and implementers are also lending their voices to advocate for the Bill including Mrs Kim Simplis Barrow, Special Envoy for Women and Children and Spouse of the Prime Minister, Mr Enrique Romero, Executive Director of the NAC, Attorney Randall Sheppard, Senior Crown Counsel in the Ministry of the Attorney General, and Attorney Rashad Brathwaite, independent consultant and legal drafter.

The ASC has engaged with several critical stakeholders to foster knowledge about the EOB including the National Evangelical Association of Belize (NEAB), National Trade Union Council of Belize (NTUCB), Christian Workers’ Union (CWU), etc.

In addition, a press conference was held to provide an overview of the Bill, including a background of how the legislation originated and how it will provide protection for all Belizeans.

The Bill will significantly enhance the quality of life in Belize by removing the systemic barriers to equality and empowering Belizeans to fulfil their potential and live happy, healthy and peaceful lives.

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