Archives: Media Releases

Director’s Message – September 2019

National AIDS Programme (NAP) Managers and Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Leaders sharpened skills for advocacy and media engagement at the recent PANCAP Communication Training. PANCAP recognises that engagement in advocacy and policy dialogue with national, regional and global partners is crucial for both NAP Managers and CSO Leaders if we are to fill the gaps articulated in the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS (CRSF) 2019-2025. PANCAP also recognises that our current pool of advocates in both national AIDS programmes and civil society organisations require training to strengthen their capacity to effectively engage with policymakers and the media.

Strategic Priority Area 1 of the CRSF 2019 – 2025 calls upon national technical managers and experts to become more sophisticated in their advocacy with policymakers and to take advantage of mass and social media as powerful tools for advocacy which cuts across all seven strategic priority areas. Our national managers and experts must provide the technical leadership required for bold and innovative action. Such action is crucial for effecting change in policy and legislation and increasing domestic resources for sustaining the HIV response.

UNAIDS reminds us that advocacy has sparked action in the face of denialism and indifference, mobilised unprecedented financial resources and enabled communities to participate in designing health services that meet their needs. UNAIDS emphasises that advocacy is a defining feature of the response to the AIDS epidemic, and it is a crucial factor in the levels of investment and political commitment dedicated to responding to AIDS.

The communication training enabled participants to increase their skills in advocacy for funding and policy change and to engage through the mass and social media from an evidence-informed position. Having sharpened their skills, technical national partners must now utilise the PANCAP Regional Advocacy Strategy 2017 to increase their strategic advocacy and media engagement.

This overarching regional strategy seeks to harmonise advocacy efforts and amplify the voice of PANCAP partners (including expanding the coverage of priority issues by mass media), to present a unified front with consistent messaging across constituencies and sectors, to extend reach into regional high-level political fora and national political processes and mechanisms, and to strengthen connections to the communities most affected by structural barriers.

It provides a framework for harnessing and building on the comparative strengths of partners in a way that increases the likelihood of success to create a broad-based coalition in which more established partners, such as the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), provide the capacity building and access needed for key population communities to be the drivers of advocacy action.

UNAIDS also reminds us that advocacy remains crucial to driving sufficient resources, addressing the needs of the people most affected, and holding governments accountable for the concrete results that will lead to ending AIDS as a public health threat. I call upon the participants of the training and other stakeholders to be bold in their advocacy while recognising that it takes practice to develop its full strength and potential. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote, “Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.”

Senator The Honourable Mary Isaac selected to serve as Board Member for Latin America and Caribbean Constituency of The Global Fund Board

Image: Senator The Honourable Mary Isella Isaac, Minister of Health and Wellness, Saint Lucia and Chair of the OECS RCM

Monday 30 September 2019 (PANCAP Coordinating Unit, CARICOM Secretariat):  Senator The Honourable Mary Isella Isaac, Minister of Health and Wellness, Saint Lucia and Chair of the OECS RCM was selected to serve as Board Member for the Latin America and Caribbean Constituency of The Global Fund Board for the period 1 November 2019 – 31 October 2021 during the 37th Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development – Ministers of Health, which was held on 28-29 September at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Headquarters, Washington, D.C., USA.

The Partnership extends congratulations to Senator Isaac on her appointment.

Click here to read Senator Isaac’s biography.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Faith Leaders Consultation

Tuesday 24 September 2019 (PANCAP Coordinating Unit, CARICOM Secretariat): The Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) in collaboration with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines National AIDS Programme (NAP), with funding from the CARIFORUM 10th European Development Fund (EDF) Programme of Support for Wider Caribbean Cooperation, will host the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Faith Leaders Consultation at Sunset Shores, 849 Villa Beach,  St. Vincent & Grenadines on the 25 and 26 September 2019.

This consultation is a follow-up to a series of engagements with faith leaders under the PANCAP Justice for All programme at the regional level. The consultation will facilitate the development of a national action plan for advancing faith leaders’ implementation of key elements of the Justice for All programme in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Participants will include 50 faith leaders representing the St. Vincent and the Grenadines religious community.

The action plan is geared towards ending AIDS and providing psychosocial support to those infected and affected by HIV. It will also identify the lessons learned from implementing the UNAIDS Fast Track goals; establishing recommendations for improving the collaboration between the religious community and the national AIDS Programme and civil society partners, and setting priorities and timelines for achieving goals.

Speakers scheduled for the Forum include Hon. Robert Theodore Luke Vincent Browne, Minister of Health, Wellness, and the Environment, St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Reverend Courtney Adolf Davis, Minister, Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA); Dr. Edward Greene, PANCAP Special Advisor; and Ms. Ferosa Roache, Director, National HIV and AIDS Programme.

– ENDS –

 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 maximize efficient use of resources and increase impact, mobilises resources and build capacity of partners.

  • 10th European Development Fund (EDF) Programme of Support for Wider Caribbean Cooperation

Under the 10th (EDF) Programme of Support for Wider Caribbean Cooperation, PANCAP will strengthen coordination on human rights issues in keeping with the Justice For all Roadmap through the HIV and AIDS Thematic Task Force in CARIFORUM.

  • CARIFORUM

CARIFORUM refers to the Grouping of Caribbean States which are signatories of the Georgetown Agreement establishing the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). The ACP grouping is composed of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states.

CARIFORUM is the recipient of and manages the implementation of Caribbean Regional Indicative Programmes financed by the EDF and Caribbean regional programmes financed by individual Member States of the European Union. It also provides technical assistance to agencies/institutions implementing projects under these programmes.

European Union

The Member States of the European Union have decided to link together their know-how, resources and destinies. Together, they have built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedoms. The European Union is committed to sharing its achievements and its values with countries and peoples beyond its borders’.

Background to the PANCAP Justice for All (JFA) Roadmap

The PANCAP Justice for All (JFA) Programme was established in September 2013 as a regional response to the UN High-Level Political Declaration (June 2011) designed to reduce AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. The objectives of the JFA Roadmap are

  • Enhancing family life and focusing on those in need
  • Increasing access to treatment and affordable medicines
  • Reducing gender inequality including violence against women, girls and adolescents
  • Promoting prevention with special reference to sexual and reproductive health and rights including age-appropriate sexual education
  • Implementing legislative reforms for modifying AIDS-related stigma and discrimination

Global Fund Applauds World Leaders’ Commitment to Universal Health Coverage

NEW YORK – The Global Fund applauds world leaders’ commitment to scale up efforts to achieve universal health coverage by 2030, made at today’s UN High-level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage in New York. The Political Declaration “Universal health coverage: moving together to build a healthier world” stressed the need for inclusive, accessible, affordable health care, and the importance of immediate international support and long-term, sustainable financing from domestic governments.

“Today’s discussions showed an overwhelming consensus that universal health coverage is a shared value and that we must prioritize access to quality health care for all,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund, who addressed the meeting. “The Global Fund is committed to working together with partners and governments to ensure universal health coverage becomes a reality.”

To ensure that countries and all partners deliver on equity and the right to health, the Global Fund, the Global Financing Facility and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, today called on world leaders to prioritize primary health care systems as the foundation for universal health coverage; reach the most underserved, vulnerable and marginalized people; and increase domestic resource mobilization and the prioritization of health investments.

Working with partners through the WHO-led Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All, the Global Fund supports the achievement of universal health coverage through investing in resilient and sustainable systems for health; tackling gender and human rights barriers to health care access for the poorest and most vulnerable, so health services are truly “universal”; and supporting and catalyzing the sustainable financing of systems for health, including increased domestic resource mobilization.

The Global Fund is the largest multilateral provider of grants to support sustainable systems for health, investing more than US$1 billion a year on improving procurement and supply chains; strengthening data systems and data use; training qualified health care workers; building stronger community responses and systems; and promoting the delivery of more integrated, people-centered health services so people can receive comprehensive care throughout their lives.

“Building inclusive, sustainable and resilient systems for health is essential to end HIV, TB and Malaria as epidemics, and serves as our best defence against emerging threats to global health security such as multidrug-resistant TB and Ebola. Those same health systems also provide a range of critical primary health services, from sexual and reproductive health to chronic and noncommunicable diseases,” said Sands.

The Global Fund is working closely with partners to develop and implement the Sustainable Financing Accelerator as a key element of the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All. This will facilitate more effective coordination and collaboration among the key global actors engaged in supporting countries on domestic resource mobilization for health, including WHO, the World Bank, the Global Financing Facility and Gavi.

France will host the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment pledging conference in Lyon, France, on 9-10 October 2019. The Global Fund seeks to raise at least US$14 billion for the next three years to help save 16 million lives, cut the mortality rate from HIV, TB and Malaria in half, and build stronger health systems by 2023.

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Stakeholders urged to work together for the common good of humanity

Tuesday 10 September 2019 (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, convened the Second joint regional dialogue with parliamentarians, faith leaders, civil society leaders, national AIDS programme managers and youth leaders in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on 10 September 2019.

Mr Ian Ramdahin Permanent Secretary (ag), Secretariat of the National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC), Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago delivered remarks on behalf of Hon Ayana Webster-Roy, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, holding the portfolios of Gender and Child Affairs, Ecclesiastical Affairs and Central Administration Services, Tobago.

Mr Ramdahin emphasised that as the 2020 juncture for reporting on how each country and the region, as a whole, would have performed regarding the 2020 targets set by UNAIDS, assessing progress with responses to date in combatting HIV and AIDS is of paramount importance.  He noted this will highlight and influence the adjustments required to chart the new roadmap for guiding the level of scale-up necessary for achieving the more significant target of “Ending AIDS by 2030.”

The permanent secretary praised PANCAP for the concerted effort in mobilising and engaging the key stakeholders comprising Parliamentarians, Faith Leaders, Civil Society Leaders, National AIDS Programme (NAP) Managers and Youth Leaders.  He stated that these stakeholders have important and influential roles in determining how we protect those who are most vulnerable to HIV; and care, treat and respect those who are living with HIV and AIDS.  “I must commend PANCAP for establishing the mechanisms for monitoring the arrangements in place for responding to the HIV disease, which allows us to gauge and report on the progress to date,” stated Mr Ramdahin, “Through PANCAP’s sustained efforts, we are able to identify and re-evaluate the areas in need of redress or further collaboration, and ensure that there is ongoing follow-up action”.

Mr Ramdahin further stated that “in aiming for our target of an AIDS-free world by 2030, where new infections are almost negligible, we must remember at the heart of this global campaign is the “protection of the dignity of Human Rights”, which is critical for attaining our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.

He noted that geopolitical instability, escalating impacts of climate change and unanticipated financial hurdles are impacting negatively to cause shifting of the disease burden and straining the Region’s ability to mobilize the much-needed resources to mount an effective response.  “We can all agree that if we are to collectively work together towards the goal of ending AIDS by 2030, introspection at the ‘individual and regional governance levels’ are necessary for fostering ‘greater collaboration’ among all stakeholders”, stated Mr Ramdahin.

He further emphasised that in achieving this state of “greater collaboration”, it is incumbent that part of the focus of the Second regional dialogue must be centred around conversations that are geared towards aligning synergies for creating a more diversely inclusive environment that is free of biases, mistrust, phobias, stigma and discrimination, especially at the national and regional levels, where we can more efficiently identify tools and strategies to augment “communication and collaboration” of a richer and deeper quality.

“Today’s forum represents a great opportunity for individuals and their organizations to network and examine societal norms, attitudes and value systems that manifest as communication barriers, which ultimately impede the HIV and AIDS response at the national and regional levels,” stated the permanent secretary, “based on my experience, I would have learnt that the key to the success of any response, be it an oil spill response, natural disaster response or a response to an epidemic such as HIV is rooted in the people who inspire, shape, drive and manoeuvre the response. People are the main determinants in any response and can either make it or break it”.

He reminded the participants that they are the ones who have been empowered to determine the fate of the region as it pertains to HIV and AIDS.  He urged stakeholders to rise to their call of duty and make meaningful contributions for ensuring the removal of all of the barriers for achieving the goal of ending AIDS by 2030.

He stated, “Please be cautioned that if we fail to unmask or decode the barriers because of our personal biases on human rights, the net result will be that we will fail to effectively strategize and fail to meet the diverse needs of our vulnerable groups within the landscape of the response”.

The permanent secretary warned that if key populations vulnerable to HIV are allowed to go unchecked, untreated and unsupported in any country, then society as a whole will ultimately suffer. He stated that the region recognises that HIV and AIDS are a critical development problem which affects the quality of life, labour, families, communities and the national economy – in the present and future. “We do not want to be in this state, so let us all work together for the common good of humanity”, stated Mr Ramdahin.

He further emphasised that the Region can rest assured that the improvements expressed and gains achieved thus far, as well as the forthcoming recommendations, will not only serve to foster an efficient and sustained response to HIV and AIDS within the region but also contribute to other areas that impact on communities’ health and wellbeing.

He challenged participants to take a deep insightful look at the PANCAP’s Justice-For-All programme, which encompasses the adoption of the CARICOM Model Anti-Discrimination Legislation 2012; give due consideration to recommendations that will improve the mechanisms for enhanced inter-regional collaboration within CARICOM member States; and take into consideration the targets established by the United Nations High-Level Meeting Political Declaration June 2016 on ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030; the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approved by 192 nations at the United Nations in September 2015; and the commitments made by  civil society, faith-based and other implementing stakeholder groups.

“Despite the successes to date, let us not become complacent or despondent about the world economic and financial downturns. We are here on a mission and tasked with ascertaining “innovative ways” for addressing how to sustain our responses for ending HIV and AIDS by 2030” stated Mr Ramdahin.

He further stated that the future goal of ending AIDS by 2030 is achievable and will only be sustained through the collective efforts of Parliamentarians, Faith Leaders, Civil Society Leaders, Youth and National AIDS Programme (NAP) Managers working in harmony to ensure open, honest and consistent dialogue and collaboration to unlock and overcome the barriers for achieving our regional and international goals.

“In making your respective contributions at this second Regional Dialogue, please be guided by CARICOM’s Vision statement which proposes a “Caribbean Community that is integrated, inclusive and resilient; driven by knowledge, excellence, innovation and productivity; a Community where every citizen is secure and has the opportunity to realise his or her potential with guaranteed human rights and social justice; and contributes to, and shares in, its economic, social and cultural prosperity; a Community which is a unified and competitive force in the global arena,” stated Mr Mr Ramdahin.

He advised that a vision is needed to start the process of charting the course and invited stakeholders to keep this vision in mind as they deliberate on the joint National and Regional Level Policy Formulation and Activities for advancing the short, medium and long term goals of the PANCAP’s Justice For All Roadmap.

“Despite the obstacles and challenges currently faced by many countries in the region, I would like to re-affirm Trinidad and Tobago’s commitment towards establishing an enabling environment for meeting the 90-90-90 Targets in 2020 and continued support for programmatic activities thereafter for ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030,” stated the PS.

He highlighted that the Second Dialogue represents yet another step in the way forward for laying the foundations for increasing engagement and promoting solidarity among stakeholder groups and the persons we serve.

Mr Ramdahin thanked the stakeholders for their unwavering commitment and engagement in the regional dialogue. He stated “the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.  Let us wisely deliberate to strategise our next steps to determine the response tools and mechanisms for achieving the desired results.  I truly believe that an AIDS-free generation is certainly within our reach, but we must remain loyal and work in tandem with PANCAP to achieve the goals set before us”.

 In opening remarks, Director of PANCAP, Dereck Springer, reflected on the First Joint Regional Dialogue held in April 2018 which brought together Parliamentarians representing Government and Opposition, Members of the Regional Faith Leaders Steering Committee and other selected Faith Leaders, Regional Civil Society Leaders who work with Key Populations, members of the PANCAP Youth Advocacy Steering Committee and National AIDS Programme Managers.

The Director noted that the stakeholders of the first regional dialogue held in April 2018 provided recommendations including the need to create guidelines for respectful dialogue between key populations leaders and faith leaders.  In response, PANCAP prepared general principles designed to assist and support respectful dialogue between and among stakeholders, especially in cases where discussions are centered on sensitive and controversial issues. These include discussions that may involve social, cultural and doctrinal issues in conflict with each other.

Another recommendation from the first dialogue was the review and revision of the PANCAP Justice for all (JFA) Roadmap (2014) in light of developments over the last five years.  In response, PANCAP, with inputs from various stakeholders’ dialogue, revised the JFA Roadmap

The Director of PANCAP also highlighted that during the 2018 meeting, faith leaders indicated that they could not endorse the UNESCO Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) models since they were unfamiliar with them.  To improve their understanding, PANCAP developed nine infographics which illustrate the key components of the CSE models.

The Director further explained that the Second Regional Dialogue is positioned within the new Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS (CRSF) 2019 – 2025. He emphasised that the CRSF articulates the vision, goals, objectives, strategic priorities and key strategies which will guide the Region’s HIV response over the next six years.  “We are moving closer to ending AIDS, so we need all hands on deck,” stated Mr Springer, “With that in mind, we are required to be bold and innovative as reflected by the strategies within the CRSF 2019-2025.

The meeting applauded the Director’s announcement of the award of the US$6,500.00 for the Multi-country Caribbean grant for PANCAP, the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) and the Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN) by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria from October 2019 to September 2022. He noted that the new grant is unique since it is a joint PANCAP-CVC-COIN collaboration.  “The Grant is a demonstration of the collaboration between Governments and civil society partners,” stated Mr Springer, “it illustrates the critical need for us to ensure that we position civil society as key partners within the HIV response”.

Dr John Waters, Programme Manager, CVC delivered remarks on behalf Mr Ivanhoe Cruikshank, Executive Director, CVC.  He briefly reflected on the progress made on documenting human rights abuses.  He stated that this has been a priority of CVC and its partners since human rights abuses involving vulnerable groups are not given the attention they deserve. He highlighted that CVC has developed the Shared Incident Database (SID) for systematically documenting abuses and has provided the impetus for vulnerable groups to report and speak out against stigma and discrimination.

Dr Waters explained that CVC currently has in excess of 40 civil society partners registered with SID that are documenting human rights abuses throughout the Region.  He also highlighted CVC’s dedicated team of community paralegals who were trained to assist in the documentation of human rights abuse cases.  Dr Waters also highlighted that CVC has created a cohort of human rights lawyers who champion cases involving vulnerable groups and discrimination. He emphasised that these initiatives have resulted in progress with regard to CVC’s engagement with policymakers and Governments.  He stated, “We are beginning to see some tangible results in achieving justice for all”.

– ENDS –

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.

What are the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 Targets?

  • By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status.
  • By 2020, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy.
  • By 2020, 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.

Contact:

Timothy Austin
Communications Specialist
PANCAP Coordinating Unit
CARICOM Secretariat
Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana
Email:      taustin.consultant@caricom.org
Tel: (592) 222-0001-75, Ext. 3409  | Visit www.PANCAP.org

Helpful links:

  • Joint Regional Dialogue with Faith Leaders, Parliamentarians, Civil Society Leaders, National AIDS Programme Managers and Youth Leaders

https://pancap.org/pancap-events/joint-regional-dialogue-with-faith-leaders-parliamentarians-civil-society-leaders-national-aids-programme-managers-and-youth-leaders/

  • Global AIDS Update 2018 – Miles to Go:

https://pancap.org/pancap-documents/global-aids-update-2018-miles-to-go/

Diverse group of regional stakeholders to discuss strategies for fostering collaboration for ending AIDS

Wednesday 4 September 2019 (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, will convene the Second joint regional dialogue with parliamentarians, faith leaders, civil society leaders, national AIDS programme managers and youth leaders in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on 10 September 2019. The theme of the event is “Assessing progress towards ending AIDS”.

 According to Director of PANCAP, Dereck Springer, the Dialogue will provide an update on the implementation of recommendations that emanated from the first Regional Dialogue held in April 2018.  Stakeholders will also explore personal values and attitudes that may contribute to reinforcing differences or fostering an environment that supports diversity.

The Director further explained that the five stakeholder groups – Parliamentarians, Faith Leaders, Civil Society Leaders, National AIDS Programme Managers and Youth Leaders – would be involved in interactive sessions which will allow them to discuss and propose options on the way forward for each stakeholder group, including areas for collaboration with other stakeholder groups beyond the current Global Fund grant.

“Conscious that there remain challenges with differences among some stakeholder groups, the Regional Dialogue will provide a space to allow stakeholders to explore their personal values and divergent views, as well as the implicit biases that serve as barriers to communication with and acceptance of different groups,” stated the PANCAP Director.  He further highlighted that through group discussions stakeholders would clarify their values, identify the challenges and responses required to overcome the gaps in trust, diversity and social identity that currently exist among stakeholders.

The PANCAP Director emphasised that the Dialogue will seek to ascertain from stakeholder groups what is needed to develop positive attitudes to diverse social identities, such as men who have sex with men, transgender persons, sex workers, persons who use drugs, migrants and persons with disabilities.

In addition, the five stakeholder groups will be involved in identifying strategies for fostering collaboration for ending AIDS, areas for cooperation between stakeholders and support needs for advancing stakeholders’ work at the national level.

Participants will include Parliamentarians representing Government and Opposition, Members of the Regional Faith Leaders Steering Committee and other selected Faith Leaders, Regional Civil Society Leaders who work with Key Populations, members of the PANCAP Youth Advocacy Steering Committee and National AIDS Programme Managers.

-ENDS –

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.

What are the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 Targets?

  • By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status.
  • By 2020, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy.
  • By 2020, 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.

Contact:

Timothy Austin

Communications Specialist

PANCAP Coordinating Unit

CARICOM Secretariat

Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana

Email:      taustin.consultant@caricom.org

Tel: (592) 222-0001-75, Ext. 3409  | Visit www.PANCAP.org

Helpful links:

  • Joint Regional Dialogue with Faith Leaders, Parliamentarians, Civil Society Leaders, National AIDS Programme Managers and Youth Leaders

https://pancap.org/pancap-events/joint-regional-dialogue-with-faith-leaders-parliamentarians-civil-society-leaders-national-aids-programme-managers-and-youth-leaders/

  • Global AIDS Update 2018 – Miles to Go:

https://pancap.org/pancap-documents/global-aids-update-2018-miles-to-go/

2019 World AIDS Day theme: “Communities make the difference”

The theme of the 2019 observance of World AIDS Day is “Communities make the difference”.

The commemoration of World AIDS Day is an important opportunity for stakeholders to recognize the essential role that communities have played and continue to play in the AIDS response at the international, national and local levels.

Communities contribute to the AIDS response in many different ways. Their leadership and advocacy ensure that the response remains relevant and grounded, keeping people at the centre and leaving no one behind. Communities include peer educators, networks of people living with or affected by HIV, such as gay men and other men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and sex workers, women and young people, counsellors, community health workers, door-to-door service providers, civil society organizations and grass-roots activists.

World AIDS Day offers an important platform to highlight the role of communities at a time when reduced funding and a shrinking space for civil society are putting the sustainability of services and advocacy efforts in jeopardy. Greater mobilization of communities is urgently required to address the barriers that stop communities delivering services, including restrictions on registration and an absence of social contracting modalities. The strong advocacy role played by communities is needed more than ever to ensure that AIDS remains on the political agenda, that human rights are respected and that decision-makers and implementers are held accountable.

We will be sharing more updates as the event approaches.

PANCAP anticipates a highly successful World AIDS Day 2019.

What is World AIDS Day?

World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first-ever global health day, held for the first time in 1988.

PANCAP-CVC-COIN awarded Multi-country Caribbean Global Fund Grant

On 16 August, the Board of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria approved a USD$6.5 Million Multi-country Caribbean grant for PANCAP-CVC-COIN.  The CARICOM Secretariat will serve as the Principal Recipient while PANCAP, CVC and COIN will serve as Sub-Recipients. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA),  the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Cuban National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX) are Sub-sub-recipients.

The grant, titled “Sustainability of services for key populations in the Caribbean” will commence on 1 October 2019 and will end on 30 September 2022.  Men who have sex with men (MSM), Sex workers and Transgender people are direct beneficiaries of the grant which will be shared by ten counties, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Goal of the grant is to Provide Sustainable Prevention, Treatment and Care Services for Key Populations in the Caribbean Region.

Four strategies will be pursued to achieve the goal of the grant. These are:

  • Increase domestic resources for effective key population programming
  • Mobilise resources for key population organisations
  • Reduce structural barriers to key population services including stigma and discrimination and gender-based violence
  • Improve knowledge generation and use of strategic information on key populations for decision-making and advocacy by communities and other stakeholders.

The key activities are geared toward programmes to reduce human rights-related barriers to HIV services – HIV and HIV/TB related legal services; and community responses and systems, institutional capacity building, planning and leadership development.

The Global Fund deemed the overall programme to be technically sound and strategically focused as it demonstrates added value from a multi-country approach, compared to a country-specific approach, leveraging existing regional partnerships and structures.

Director’s Message – August 2019

The Tenth International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Science which was held in Mexico City on the 21-24 July 2019 provided a space for researchers to showcase advances in HIV Science. As expected presentations, panel discussions, and posters on HIV prevention initiatives, PrEP, Treat All, stigma and discrimination and sustainability dominated the conference. However, for me, the key takeaway message was that ending AIDS as a public health threat requires bold political action to address policy and legislative changes for eliminating stigma and discrimination and increasing and maintaining national investment in HIV.

Stigma and discrimination continue to impede access to prevention, treatment and care services particularly among key populations, inter alia men who have sex with men, transgender persons, sex workers, persons who use drugs, people with disabilities, women and girls and indigenous people. Stigma remains a structural barrier to ending AIDS and a key component of the response. The conference brought this into sharper focus by providing a preponderance of evidence that people who experience stigma are at an increased risk of HIV. One presenter stated that stigma is a fundamental determinant of health, and health equity and suggested that stigma undermines three key determinants of health: access to resources; access to social support; and access to psychological and behavioural responses through exclusion. In relation to HIV stigma, one moderator queried whether it is different from other types of stigma. Indeed, it is, and there is a fundamental difference. The way that HIV stigma is felt is based on moral judgment. It is unique as it is associated with sexual, drug use and racial biases which people see as ‘the other’. It is also seen as contagious.

From my more than two decades of work and research on HIV stigma, I am convinced that real change can only come about through interpersonal engagement with people who stigmatise. Individuals can only begin the process of change if they can internalise how their stigmatising attitude perpetuates stigma and how this impacts the lives of people who experience stigma. One of my mentors, Bonita Harris, a Guyanese educator, has held the view that stigma work is hard work. It is where the rubber hits the road. Such work must facilitate self-awareness, which allows people to reflect on how they felt when they were seen or treated as ‘the other’. It is only then that they can begin the process of seeing themselves in the experiences of others and to move from intolerance to genuine acceptance of the other irrespective of who he or she is or his or her values.

Stigma is complex, however, if we focus on its complexity, we will fail to act. To act, we must first hold ourselves accountable by our language and how we describe language as cultural. One presenter focused his presentation on policy as a structural determinant of HIV risk in the context of persons who use drugs. He cited the confiscation of syringes from persons who use drugs and how this increases their risk and vulnerability to HIV when they feel forced to share syringes. He also cited police confiscation of condoms from sex workers and its corresponding risk to those women and men. He argued that policy and criminal justice reform is an HIV prevention imperative and that punitive legislation distances people from testing and treatment as it criminalises while having no positive impact on preventing HIV infection. Punitive and non-protective laws are associated with HIV infection. He advocated for evidenced-based and human rights affirming policies to be fully part of the HIV response and emphasised that policy commitment is required for sustainability of key populations model of prevention, treatment, care and support services.

Political commitment is required for key populations provision and access to services. Strong leadership of ministries of health and policymakers were cited as game changers in Thailand that ensured key populations model of care. The Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS (CRSF) 2019-2025 includes a Strategic Priority Area (SPA) – Critical programmes and social enablers for creating an enabling environment. It outlines several strategies, including design and implementation focused strategies to target identified loci of stigma and discrimination directed towards key populations, People living with HIV (PLHIV) and youth. This SPA also responds to the evidence that a multipronged approach is required for achieving an enabling environment. Another strategy is to design, resource, evaluate and scale-up cross-sectoral approaches to pilot comprehensive sexuality education programmes in schools in recognition that our adolescents are growing up without the correct information and skills to reduce their risk and vulnerability to HIV and other social ills.

Under this SPA, the CRSF calls upon countries to intensify and institutionalise cross-sectoral collaboration to implement social protection programmes to address socio-economic drivers of HIV, with emphasis on gender-based violence and vulnerability associated with migration and population movement.

The SPA also recognises the critical need to advocate for sustained domestic resourcing for HIV, health and social protection programmes that deliver comprehensive, differentiated, non-discriminatory services that reach key populations, including the increasing number of migrants in the region.

If the Caribbean is to achieve the goal of the CRSF, that is, to reduce new HIV infections, address health disparities and social inequities, and contribute to the achievement of sustainable health and development, the region requires bold political action for increased investment to address stigma. This would enable us to accrue significant gains across the prevention and the treatment cascade.

UNAIDS 2019 HIV Global Report informed us that the Caribbean is required to have another 106,000 persons on treatment and achieving viral suppression if the Region is to attain the 90-90-90 Targets by the end of 2020. Countries must therefore focus resources to implement strategies to target identified loci of stigma and discrimination directed towards key populations.  This can only be done through bold political, as well as technical leadership and innovative action.

CRN+ conducts a series of Capacity Building Training for National Networks

Image caption: Dr Minerva Pinelo conducting a capacity building session in Belize

The Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (CRN+) has received a grant from the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) for a project titled “CVC/COIN Challenging Stigma and Discrimination to Improve Access to and Quality of HIV Services in the Caribbean”.

Under output 3 of the grant, CRN+ is focusing on strengthening of community systems and key population networks to use effective advocacy strategies to obtain social accountability mechanisms and scale-up of best practice interventions by national programmes.

CRN+ conducted capacity building training from 15 July to 5 August 2019 in Belize, Dominican Republic, Suriname and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The training activities involved over seventy (70) representatives from CRN+ networks, National AIDS Programmes and other key population networks that collaborate with CRN+.

The training focused on three key topic areas including finance essentials and accountability, monitoring and evaluation systems and fundraising essentials.

The fundamental purpose of the capacity building training was to contribute to strengthening the CRN+ networks and increasing the capacity of members to be more effective partners in their national HIV response.

The series of capacity building training provided opportunities for CRN+ to convene additional meetings with representatives of National AIDS Programmes, Ministry of Industry and Commerce and other organisations, to discuss opportunities for improving collaboration with CRN+ national affiliates and leveraging technical and financial support for income generation and other sustainability activities.