In December 2018, three civil society partners, “Care 242”, “The DMARCO Organization” and the “Bahamian Transgender Empowerment for Healthy Living” (BTEHL) collaborated with corporate entities in the Bahamas to bring holiday cheer by providing personal care supplies and psychosocial support to residents of “The All Saints Camp”, an organization focused on People Living with HIV (PLHIV) located in Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
The collaboration is depicted in the images below:
Image: SASOD Guyana Public Health Consultant Dr Nastassia Rambarran (left) and Managing Director Joel Simpson with Junior Health Minister Dr Karen Cummings (second, from left) and Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Karen Campbell
In January 2019, the Society against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) Guyana Public Health Consultant Dr. Nastassia Rambarran and Managing Director Joel Simpson met with Junior Health Minister Dr. Karen Cummings and Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Karen Campbell to discuss recommendations stemming from the organization’s “Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes and Delivery Preferences for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) among Key Populations in Guyana.”
In a brief statement, SASOD Guyana said the meeting agreed that a study on the cost-effectiveness of implementing PrEP in terms of averting new infections would strengthen public policy in this area.
As a result, it announced that it has accepted the challenge to find resources and complete the cost-effectiveness study within the next six months. Based on its assessment, SASOD had called last year on the Government to include PrEP as part of its combination prevention approach for adult HIV infections.
One of the key findings of the assessment revealed that in Guyana knowledge of PrEP appears to be minimal, with 60% of the 47 participants stating that they did not know of PrEP, while a significant number of those who claimed to be aware of the option were actually confusing PrEP with Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP).
The assessment was conducted via focus groups in Regions Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten, with financial support from the International HIV and AIDS Alliance’s Rapid Response Fund.
Following research on its effectiveness, the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014 recommended PrEP as an additional HIV prevention choice for groups, such as men who have sex with men and transgender women. This recommendation was extended to all groups in 2015.
Image: Richard David with Joel Earl Simpson (bottom row, third and fourth from left, respectively) with community leaders and attendees at “Equality in Guyana”.
Guyana is the only country in South America where intimacy between a same-sex couple is still illegal. The statute on the books is antiquated as it originated from British colonial days. There could be a window to change this in the near future.
On Saturday, 5 January 2019, Richard David, District Leader of NYS Assembly District 32 hosted a conversation with Joel Earl Simpson, Founding and Managing Director of the Society against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) at The Figure Studio in South Ozone Park. Titled “Equality in Guyana,” the event addressed specifically how equal rights can become an election issue in Guyana and how the diaspora can help to promote equal rights, even from afar.
“With elections on the horizon, we want the parties and their candidates to speak favourably about human rights and equality for LGBTQ Guyanese,” said David. “When they come to New York for support, we should be asking them for a plan, a timeframe, a clear position on this issue because they have both abandoned it once in office. This issue brings all ethnicities together, and it is why we have brought together a coalition of community leaders in New York.”
Among that coalition of leaders were co-sponsoring partners including SASOD USA Diaspora Network, Caribbean Equality Project, Indo-Caribbean Alliance, Inc., Guyana Tri-State Alliance, Sadhana Coalition of Progressive Hindus, New American Voters Association, Indian Diaspora Council, Guyanese Girls Rock Foundation, The Figure Studio and Jahajee Sisters.
The event underscored the important roles that community-based organizations and religious institutions in New York City could play in bringing forward a progressive legal ruling in Guyana as it pertains to homophobic policies. As Joel Earl Simpson of SASOD mentioned at the event, if the statutory language were removed, Guyana would follow countries like India, which recently repealed Section 377 of its Constitution and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, which repealed its Sexual Offences Act, along with other countries like Kenya and Singapore.
David also sought to create a space where Guyanese residents in New York City could have community conversations about positive matters. At the event, David mentioned that the neighbourhood is “thriving with religious groups, clothing stores and cutting-edge entrepreneurs who are just out of college and looking to become small business owners. It is therefore important that the neighbourhood is understood and loved for all the great things it has to offer, rather than all the negativity often pitched by media outlets that blemish the community’s reputation”.
Inviting Simpson to South Ozone Park for a high-level conversation on Guyanese policy provided a chance for community leaders and concerned members of the diaspora to present questions and express support of Simpson’s efforts. Simpson himself has an illustrious background, with a Law Degree and a Master’s Degree in Human Rights Law.
David’s conversation with Simpson also paved the way for impacted individuals like Twinkle, also with SASOD, to tell their personal stories. Twinkle, who recently migrated from Guyana to New York City, is a transgender woman and hate crime victim who was denied access to the Guyana Court System simply because she presented as a transgender woman.
“Supporting work and activists on the ground has always been, for me, the key to building sustainable change,” said David. “There is no stronger leader than Joel Earl Simpson and SASOD who are at the grassroots. They are winning hearts and minds, even as they mobilize to take legal action. I hope all Guyanese will find it in their conscience that the LGBTQ community deserves to live as equal citizens.”
Sustainability of youth advocacy beyond donor funding will be the focus of the upcoming Meeting of Youth Leaders scheduled for May 2019. The editor of the PANCAP Newsletter recently discussed the upcoming event with PANCAP Youth Network Chair, Kevin Mendez, who has helmed the PANCAP Youth response to HIV for the last two years.
The Chair expressed enthusiasm about the meeting and explained that it will “serve as a platform to present and organize the youth sexual and reproductive health advocacy efforts exercised by youth leaders, key population members, and Caribbean Youth Ambassadors in their countries and the region”.
The Chair further explained that the Youth Meeting would be a space to celebrate the achievements of the Youth Network and most importantly, critically analyze the current situation regarding youths’ vulnerability to HIV. Participants will also collaborate to develop a “call to action” aimed at decision makers and the network’s sustainable strategic plan post-Global Fund grant.
“As we meet for the third time with the support of PANCAP, sustainability – through partnership – is at the core of our discussions”, stated Kevin.
He further explained, “The Steering Committee is active in identifying local, regional and international organizations and government allies to commit to integrating the advocacy efforts into their existing strategies and how together we can continue improving youth’s access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and our rights”.
“As the planning continues, we are excited for the outcomes of this creative, fun, inclusive and invaluable conference,” stated the Chair.
Press Release:– Efforts to continue developing a framework to overcome HIV, TB and STIs as a public health threat by 2022 are underway as the OECS Regional Coordinating Mechanism (RCM) and Global Fund met recently.
The OECS RCM is making preparations to sign another three –year grant proposal with the Global Fund aimed at eliminating HIV, TB and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
The project will operate in six participating OECS Member States: St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis and Grenada.
Project Coordinator for the OECS HIV/TB Grant Dr Cleophas D’Auvergne highlighted the goals of this project.
“The major goals of the grant are to reduce the incidence of HIV in line with the 90-90-90 Targets and also move towards TB elimination using a framework for low incidence countries because most of the OECS countries are low incidence countries. The second goal is to improve services for key populations for HIV, TB and STIs. And, ensuring that these services are accessible and affordable.”
Minister for Health and Wellness Sen. Hon. Mary Isaac says the project is extremely important to Saint Lucia as it addresses a critical need for persons with HIV, TB and STIs.
“This grant is aimed at assisting persons living with HIV as well as TB and other STIs. This is a population that we usually don’t remember exists, but they are quite challenged in that there is a lot of stigma attached to these people. So, funding like that comes at a time when it is extremely critical that these people have the ability to access their medications and manage other health issues that they might have.”
The project is being co-funded by the Global Fund for over US $5.5 million dollars for the period of three years spanning April 2019 to April 2022.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, 21 January 2019 (PANCAP Coordinating Unit, CARICOM Secretariat): The PANCAP Priority Areas Coordinating Committee (PACC), the technical group of the PANCAP Executive Board commissioned an evaluation of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS (CRSF) 2014 – 2018. The PACC is responsible for the coordination and overseeing the implementation of operational plans for the CRSF.
The overall goal of the CRSF 2014-2018 was to halt the spread and reduce the impact of HIV in the Caribbean while promoting a sustainable response within Member States. The indicators developed to determine the overall achievement of the stated goal included the percentage of persons aged 15 – 49 years diagnosed with HIV in the last 12 months; percentage of children born to HIV-infected mothers who are infected; percentage of persons living with HIV (PLHIV) on treatment (ART) and virally suppressed; and Domestic and International AIDS spending by category and funding sources.
METHODS
The evaluation was conducted between April and November 2018 with three objectives: 1. Obtain feedback from the regional partners as to the progress, achievements, and gaps of the regional HIV response; 2. determine the level of implementation of the CRSF, the progress, achievements, gaps and challenges; and 3. provide clear recommendations on the strategic priority areas for the new CRSF and to inform its development.
The evaluation was conducted in two phases; Phase 1: Collection and analysis of survey data from a Partner Self-assessment and a Partnership Assessment; and Phase 2: Collection and analysis of data for key indicators of the CRSF 2014-2018 to help the Partnership determine the progress made, particularly in relation to impact and outcomes. During Phase 2, a virtual consultation was conducted among government and civil society partners from countries with the highest number of respondents to the partnership assessment to corroborate the perceptions obtained from the surveys and to determine whether the trends that emerged from the surveys remained or varied significantly. The draft evaluation report was reviewed by PACC members and amended to improve its analytic depth and clarity.
FINDINGS
The findings for each of the Six Strategic Priority Areas are presented in the full evaluation report.
The evaluation found that while the Caribbean has made progress in responding to the HIV epidemic, the impact of the prevention response has been inadequate, particularly among key populations. Of concern is that the annual number of new HIV infections among adults in the Caribbean declined by only 18% from 2010 to 2017, from 19,000 [14,000–31,000] to 15,000 [11,000–26,000]. Key populations, Men who have sex with men (MSM), Sex Workers (SWs) and their clients, and partners of key populations, transgender persons, and persons who use drugs, accounted for the majority of the new HIV infections (68%) during this period.
Conversely, new infections among children fell from an estimated 2,300 in 2010, to 1100. However, although significant progress has been made in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, available data for the period 2015 – 2017 showed that HIV infected pregnant women receiving ART to reduce HIV transmission declined from 92% in 2014 to 79% in 2015 and 75% in 2016 and 2017 respectively, illustrating a significant decrease that requires investigation.
There has been progress in placing more people living with HIV on treatment, however much more needs to be done to increase the numbers and to retain people on treatment. In fact, significant effort is required for the Caribbean to achieve the UNAIDS 90-90-90 Targets (90% of people living with HIV are aware of their infection, 90% of people diagnosed with HIV are linked to antiretroviral treatment (ART) and 90% of those on ART adhere and have undetectable levels of HIV in their blood). The gap to achieving the first 90 of the 90–90–90 Targets in 2017 was 54,800 people living with HIV [1].
The gap to achieving the first and second 90s of the 90–90–90 Targets in 2017 was 74,700 people living with HIV. The percentage of people living with HIV who achieved viral suppression increased from 37% in 2016 to 40% in 2017.
However, the gap to achieving all three 90s at the end of 2017 was the need for an additional 103,000 people living with HIV to be on ART and be virally suppressed. Given this situation, the Caribbean is at risk of not achieving the 2020 Targets.
Global financial resources to support the HIV epidemic have been progressively decreasing since 2011. However, domestic financing has improved during the implementation of the CRSF 2014-2018[2]. UNAIDS 2018, noted that “domestic resources increased between 2006 – 2017 by 124%, while international resources declined by 16%”[3]. As at the end of 2017, domestic resources were contributing significantly to the cost of ART and the overall treatment programme. Despite this trend, national resources to support services to achieve prevention continue to be low[4], with the implication that the gains could be reversed if this gap is not quickly filled.
The evaluation team proposed a number of overall recommendations for the goal as well as specific recommendations to address the gaps and challenges identified under each Strategic Priority Area. Additionally, the team proposed that the following Strategic Priority Areas should be retained in the new CRSF: An Enabling Environment, Prevention of HIV Transmission, Treatment, Care and Support, Integrate HIV into Health and Socioeconomic Development and Sustainability.
The evaluation team further proposed that a new Strategic Priority Area – Strategic Information, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Research, should replace Strategic Priority Area – Shared Responsibility to bring into sharper focus the importance of countries’ capacity to report on HIV data nationally, regionally and internationally, including on the CRSF indicators. Such emphasis would enable better reporting on, and profiling of the epidemic in the Caribbean. The main activities that fell under “Shared Responsibility” will be subsumed into the existing Strategic Priority Areas so as to ensure continuity of these initiatives in the new CRSF.
The Priority Areas Coordinating Committee, which was convened virtually on 10 January 2019 accepted the evaluation report. The PANCAP Executive Board which was convened virtually on 17 January 2019 also accepted the evaluation report and thanked those responsible for preparing the report; recognized that while the Caribbean has made progress much more needs to be done to achieve the targets; called on all countries and the Partnership to renew efforts to build capacity and work together to achieve the targets.
The Execute Board noted the legal judgments in Caribbean courts affirming human rights arising from litigation and called on countries not to wait on litigation but to make amendments to laws to recognize the rights of key populations and the rights of all to access sexual and reproductive health services. The board also noted that while tens of thousands of cases of HIV infections have been prevented there is a need to significantly reduce new infections, and this requires that countries promote age-appropriate sexual education and skills and extend sexual reproductive health services to all youth and key populations.
The board also called on all countries to introduce innovative prevention approaches and improve the quality of prevention services to ensure greater impact in reducing new HIV infections, and further called on the Priority Areas Coordinating Committee to develop a new Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS for the period 2019 to 2023.
– ENDS –
Helpful links:
Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS – https://pancap.org/who-we-are/caribbean-regional-strategic-framework/
Haiti Call to Action – https://pancap.org/pancap-releases/new-call-to-action-provides-guidelines-for-achieving-sustainable-hiv-responses-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean/
What is PANCAP?
PANCAP is a Caribbean regional partnership of governments, regional civil society organizations, regional institutions and organizations, 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, mobilizes resources and build capacity of partners.
What are the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 Targets?
[1] UNAIDS 2018. Miles to Go: Closing Gaps, Breaking Barriers, Righting Injustices.
[2] http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/unaids-data-2018_en.pdf
[3] ibid.
[4] UNAIDS 2018. Miles to Go: Closing Gaps, Breaking Barriers, Righting Injustices.
The year 2018 is rapidly drawing to a close. I would like to share my reflections on some key achievements during this year. There has been further assessment of our progress and gaps in the response through the evaluation of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS 2014-2018 and the mid-term evaluation of the CARICOM-PANCAP and UNDP-CVC-COIN Global Fund projects. These assessments will be used to inform the development of the new CRSF and adjustment to Global Fund grant activities to achieve the desired outcomes.
PANCAP continued to make its presence felt, expand knowledge sharing and communicate its added value to the region through its Knowledge for Health Project.
A key output of the PANCAP component of the CARIFORUM 10th European Development Fund was a position paper on the human rights situation in the region, which brought together the achievements, gaps, and challenges in one document while highlighting the critical need for justice system reform as a means of increasing key populations’ access to justice.
A Framework for Migrant Health and Rights was developed to serve as a pragmatic approach to migrant populations, which recognizes that a non-discriminatory strategy for public health benefits the entire population. The Framework is rationalized with the vision of regionalism under the CSME and sets out guiding principles and recommended strategies for regional and national action. It was endorsed by the 35th COHSOD – Ministers of Health and operationalization will begin in 2019.
Our youth have been engaging in high-level advocacy with ministers of health and education around issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights. There has been joint dialogue between faith leaders and other groups including key populations, youth, NAP managers and civil society leaders. These engagements are aimed at increasing youth’s access to SRH services, integration of comprehensive sexuality education and development and implementation of gender-inclusive policies and integration of comprehensive sexuality education into the Health and Family Life Education curriculum, as well as the adoption of CARICOM Anti-Discrimination Legislation by countries.
We continue to engage in dialogue regarding the judgmental attitudes towards LGBTI persons and justice for key populations following the Trinidad and Tobago High Court Ruling that the Buggery Law is unconstitutional and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Ruling that Guyana’s Crossdressing law is unconstitutional.
We have seen greater ownership of the Partnership by its members through shared responsibility. While external funding is steadily declining, donors are supporting the region to transition responsibly.
The Partnership was supported by USAID-Abt Associates Health Finance and Governance Project to revise the PANCAP Resource Mobilisation Strategy and Plan 2018-2020 to garner resources to support the achievement of regional goals and targets articulated in the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS.
PANCAP-CVC-COIN joined forces to submit a proposal to the Global Fund in the amount of US$6.5 million over three years. The consortium has been requested to proceed to grantmaking following the Technical Review Panel’s approval. PEPFAR-USAID approved another year of funding for the fiscal year 2019 to support PANCAP’s coordination function and the PEPFAR-USAID funded Knowledge for Health Project also received an extension to 2019. UNAIDS committed financial resources to support the documentation function of PANCAP.
The Caribbean Med Labs Foundation (CMLF) celebrated its 10th Anniversary in August and has recommitted to providing the leadership required for laboratory strengthening in the region.
CRN+ convened its Biannual General Meeting and elected a new Board of Directors to provide the oversight for its work. The Regional Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Technical Working Group broadened its mandate beyond HIV to include the M&E for the Caribbean Cooperation in Health IV. Under the CARICOM-PANCAP Global Fund Grant, PANCAP continued sensitization of the CARICOM Secretariat on the linkages between HIV, human rights and social development programmes and identified opportunities for collaboration during the annual work programme planning at the Secretariat. This is beginning to bear fruit as evidenced by the joint activity between the PANCAP Coordinating Unit and the Gender Unit to commemorate the Launch of the World AIDS Day 2018 theme and 16 Days of Activism to end Gender-based Violence.
In 2019 the Partnership will develop a new Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework for HIV and AIDS that is informed by the CRSF 2014-2018 evaluation, implement the PANCAP Resource Mobilisation Plan, and leverage the comparative advantage of development partners for transition and sustainability of both national and regional responses.
I take this opportunity to thank the staff of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit for their stellar performance and unwavering support for the work of the Partnership.
I wish the Partnership a Blessed and Peaceful Christmas.
Do you know your status? If you do not, as Champions for Change we urge you to do so this World AIDS Day so you can feel empowered.
Know Your Status is the theme for World AIDS Day this year. It is both a call to action and an opportunity to celebrate the achievements that have been made and recommit ourselves to continue the work towards the end of AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. The success of the regional response is evident in significant achievements for the Caribbean especially since seven of our Caribbean countries were recognized on World AIDS Day last year for eliminating the transmission of the HIV virus from Mother to an unborn child. In April 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to achieve the target for elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Congenital Syphilis, along with 6 additional countries (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, in 2017).
UNAIDS World AIDS Day 2018 data collected in 2017, reveals that we still have much to do and each of us needs to take action.
This tells us that despite these efforts and in spite of the overall gains towards epidemic control, throughout the Region, prevalence continues to be higher in key populations, including women, MSM, transgender, sex workers, youth, migrants and mobile populations, incarcerated persons and people who use drugs. The legal, social and cultural barriers that drive transmission and prevent key populations from accessing comprehensive and high-quality health services are deeply rooted in Caribbean cultures and societies. As the Region is faced with rapidly declining donor support to HIV programming, interventions targeted at key populations, including through community-based organizations (CSO), are likely to be most affected, especially as national programs are challenged to find the resources needed to scale-up treatment programs in line with Treat All. At a minimum, there must be a commitment at the regional and national level to sustaining investment in prevention, treatment, communication for development, moral and values education and care programs.
It is now, therefore, a strategic imperative to work in partnership and collaboration with all stakeholders, operating as a unified, coherent and cohesive whole (without prejudice to individual/respective organizations objectives) in order to achieve the overall goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
Each of us must do more, and we can start by simply doing an HIV test- today or as soon as possible- which will allow us to seek treatment or continue and improve our prevention efforts. Our region needs our collective action!
This year’s World AIDS Day theme “Know your status” encourages us to be tested to know whether we are HIV negative or positive. This theme is very relevant as the world has committed to Fast Track actions towards achieving the 90-90-90 treatment targets by the year 2020. The UNAIDS 2018 Global AIDS Monitoring (GAM) report informs us that there are an estimated 310,000 adults and children living with HIV in the Caribbean, of which nearly 55,000 are unaware that they have HIV.
While many people experience anxieties when contemplating being tested, it is good to know that the majority of these will test HIV negative. What is important is those who know that they are HIV negative have an incentive to keep themselves free from HIV by adopting changes to their lives that can reduce their risk and vulnerability to HIV. The few who test positive for HIV can have immediate access to life-saving antiretroviral drugs that would enable them to enjoy a good quality life and live much longer.
The 2018 UNAIDS GAM report also helps us to understand that we still need to place 74,400 persons who are living with HIV on treatment and 103,000 are yet to achieve viral suppression, that is, having very low levels of virus in the body, even though the virus is still present.
Science and evidence show that AIDS can be defeated once we get 90 percent of people to know their HIV status, of those who are HIV positive 90 percent receive anti-retroviral drugs and are retained in care, and 90 percent of those on treatment achieve viral suppression. Once this happens, we are well on the way to achieving the end of AIDS, by 2030.
So what is stopping us from achieving these 90-90-90 targets? The biggest challenges we face are persistent judgment and unfair treatment of people living with HIV and persons belonging to key population groups such as gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgender persons, sex workers, persons who use drugs, migrants and other mobile populations, and persons with disabilities. We judge persons who are different from us and we often times treat them differently. We do so because we do not take the time to understand. This year’s theme must, therefore, serve as a catalyst for increased strategic advocacy using the PANCAP Regional Advocacy Strategy 2017 and national advocacy plans for increasing political will to remove the policies and legislative barriers that obstruct people from coming forward to know their HIV status. The fear is real as people are concerned that they will be treated differently if they test positive.
We must bring into the spotlight the critical need for laboratory improvements and increased coverage in our region. We need more laboratory facilities including those led by the communities themselves to know our status. We need laboratories to confirm community-led HIV screening tests. We need laboratories and point-of-care diagnostic systems to monitor our viral loads and health care providers who are trained to provide clinical management for HIV-related illnesses.
We cannot get people tested if we do not have test kits, the right diagnostic equipment, and the right human resources. When we talk about placing 90 percent of people who are HIV positive on treatment and retaining them on treatment we must also ensure that we do not have stock-outs of key drugs. How can we be taken seriously when we encourage people to be tested and then fail to provide uninterrupted treatment? How can we fail to respond to people living with HIV when sometimes drugs are not available and people become anxious because their health care provider had stressed the importance of adherence to treatment and the impact of non-adherence on their health, including the potential for drug resistance?
If we are serious about getting people to know their status, we must move beyond the rhetoric to decisive actions to demonstrate that we understand the full implication of what it means to move someone who tests HIV positive to sustained viral suppression. We must guarantee good quality laboratory testing and laboratory services, uninterrupted treatment and monitoring within our health care system. And we must begin to tackle the reform of the justice system to enable persons who suffer discrimination to obtain redress in a timely manner. This calls for the engagement and involvement of our ministries of justice and attorneys general among others.
I call upon our governments and all who can make this happen to take the necessary actions to create an enabling environment in which people who want to know their status can come forward with the knowledge that they will not be treated differently, and that if they test positive they will be provided with the treatment, care and support they need to enjoy good quality lives and achieve viral suppression. Only then can we get them to know their status and begin the journey towards ending AIDS as a public health threat in the Caribbean.
As we mark another World AIDS Day, 30 years after the start of this epidemic, we have come a long way and are fortunate to today be standing in a better place than in prior years. But after 30 years, AIDS is still not over as yet and we have much more work to do.
Today the Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV (CRN+) commemorates World AIDS Day under the theme “Know Your Status”. This theme is meant to encourage every individual who do not know their HIV status to GET TESTED NOW. Many barriers to HIV testing remain and UNAIDS estimates that more than 9.4 million people living with HIV still do not know their status. Stigma and discrimination deter people from taking an HIV test. If people don’t know their HIV status, people who are living with HIV can’t start treatment, and people who are HIV-negative can’t get the knowledge and skills they need to keep that way.
HIV has always had an enormous impact on individuals and communities. Children, mothers, and fathers are affected by each new infection. HIV knows no economic or geographic boundaries. This diverse Caribbean of ours has the second highest HIV prevalence (1.3%) in the world outside that of sub-Saharan Africa, with 310,000 persons estimated to be living with HIV.
A renewed call to the people of the Caribbean: Get tested!
We must continue to shout out and pledge that stigma and discrimination end with me. Let us commit to reinvigorating our efforts to realize a world free of AIDS and to ending the scourge of discrimination.
I urge our fellow Caribbean countries to protect the basic human rights of ALL people, especially people living with HIV, including their rights to physical and mental health and well-being, social and economic opportunities, and full participation in shaping prosperous and sustainable societies.
Even as CRN+ joins the rest of the world in remembering those we have lost by marking World AIDS Day 2018, we must also take hope in the successes we have made to date. We call upon all Caribbean people who have not yet taken an HIV test to do so today. 54,800 people living with HIV in the Caribbean do not know their status. Knowing your HIV status is very important and the experience can help to either strengthen your efforts to stay HIV-free or guide you to the treatment and care services that will allow you to live a long, healthy and productive life with HIV.
Let us Live Life Positively.
