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PANCAP Presents Reverend Dr Nigel Taylor with Champions for Change Award

Friday, 20 April 2018 (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 present Reverend Dr Nigel Taylor, President of the Barbados Evangelical Association, with the Champions for Change Award during the PANCAP Faith Leaders Consultation at the L.V. Harcourt Lewis Auditorium “Melbourne” Barbados.

Dr Taylor was recognized for his significant work and advocacy towards greater involvement of the faith community in national and regional HIV responses.

Dr Taylor stated that the leadership within the faith communities must be engaged at all times and that they should be a critical part of the decision-making process at all levels in the response to HIV and AIDS. He reiterated that Ministers are strategically placed in communities and as such, they must continue to “serve this present age.”

Dr Taylor is the Minister in Charge of the Calvary Evangelical Church. He holds Doctoral Degrees in the disciplines of Theology and Psychology. In addition to being the President of the Barbados Evangelical Association, he is the former Vice President of the Evangelical Association of the Caribbean.

He served as Chairman of the National HIV/AIDS Commission of Barbados and engaged the denominations in the country to get involved in the HIV and AIDS response.

Dr Taylor was also part of the Barbados Delegation to The UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV (UNGASS) and a Barbados’ representative to the 2012 AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Director of PANCAP, Mr Dereck Springer, who highlighted the value that Dr Taylor has brought to the region’s HIV response, presented the award. “Faith Leaders have a tremendous influence in shaping positive attitudes towards People Living with and Affected by HIV”, stated the Director.

Dr Taylor was officially named a PANCAP Champion for Change during the relaunch of the initiative (Champions for Change IV) on 12 September 2017 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Georgetown, Guyana, but was unable to attend due to prior commitments.
The Director of PANCAP explained that the PANCAP Champions for Change “was conceived as a “brand” or approach for promoting the reduction of stigma and discrimination and was intended to complement other approaches. It was felt that given the sensitivities involved in stigma and discrimination, the use of “Champions” to advocate for a change in attitudes could have a positive impact”.

The award presentation will be made during the Barbados chapter of the PANCAP Faith Leaders Consultation, which is a follow up to the national and regional consultations, which commenced in 2017, with a number of regional activities scheduled for 2018. The first Regional Faith Leaders Consultation held on February 1 and 2, 2017 in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, focused on the contributions of Faith Leaders toward ending the epidemic by 2030. It specifically addressed the recommendations from the UN High Level 2016 Political Declaration and agreed on strategies to promote healthy living for all age groups, addressed best practices, identified gaps to be filled, resources required and types of regional cooperation to be undertaken to implement recommendations from the consultation.

The PANCAP special Conference of Faith Leaders in Guyana on November 2005 set the stage for institutionalizing faith-based organizations in the PANCAP structure and utilizing their contributions to shape the various iterations of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework (CRSF), the latest being 2014-2018. The CRSF is the basis for the guidelines of the PANCAP network for action and resource mobilization especially in the areas of treatment, prevention, stigma and discrimination.

The 2017 Champions for Change include Guyana’s First Lady, Mrs Sandra Granger; the Executive Director of LIVE UP Dr. Allyson Leacock; Attorney-at-law Dr. Arif Bulkan; Canon of the Cathedral in the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Canon Garth Minott, Member of Parliament (Guyana), Dr. Frank Anthony; the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Law and Economics (ILE), Jamaica, Dwayne Gutzmer; Founder and Managing Director of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) in Guyana, Joel Simpson; Executive Director of the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) Kenita Placide; Speaker of the National Assembly of Belize and Chairperson of the National AIDS Commission, Laura Tucker-Longworth; Chair of the Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CariFLAGS), Lucien Govaard; Guyana’s professional squash player, Nicolette Fernandes; President of the Barbados Evangelical Association, Dr Nigel Taylor; Director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme at the Bahamas Ministry of Health, Dr Nikkiah Forbes; Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Health, Terrence Deyalsingh; Operations Manager, Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN), Vanessa Uziely Rosario Brito; Deputy Programme Manager within the Communications Unit at the CARICOM Secretariat, Volderine Hackett; and Senior Pastor of The Poonah Open Bible Miracle Centre (POBMC), Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Rev. Winston Mansingh.

– ENDS –

Editor’s Notes:

What is the PANCAP Champions for Change Initiative?

The Champions for Change Initiative seeks to address the issue of stigma and discrimination through key advocates who are leaders in their communities and willing to be forerunners of the effort to change attitudes.

This Initiative has its genesis in the December 2003 Breakfast Meeting between the UK’s Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair and Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and was based on the identification by The Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and Chair of PANCAP, that the issue of stigma and discrimination was a major gap in the Region’s response to HIV and AIDS.

Hence, the explicit recommendation from that meeting was that a joint UK/DFID-CARICOM/PANCAP Conference be held with a view to establishing a programme for reducing stigma and discrimination against People Living with HIV and AIDS.

What is PANCAP?

PANCAP is a Caribbean regional partnership of governments, regional civil society organisations, regional institutions and organisations, bilateral and multilateral agencies and contributing donor partners 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 and 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

NAC Belize hosts workshop on Guidelines for the Comprehensive Care of Gay Men and Other Men who have Sex with Men

The National AIDS Commission (Belize) and the Ministry of Health through the United Nations Development Programme hosted a three-day training entitled “Guidelines for the Comprehensive Care of Gay Men and Other Men who have Sex with Men” from 11- 13 April 2018.

The programme focused on improving the health services offered to this key population and meeting the UNAIDS 90-90-90 Treatment Target by 2020. This sensitization workshop trained a total of 25 Health Care Providers presenting a variety of medical settings countrywide.

Dr. Lydia Guerra was the lead facilitator of the three-day training along with the following invited facilitators: Ms. Martha Carrillo (MC Consultancy), Mr. Kevin Mendez (Ministry of Health), Mr. Karl Wade (Empower Yourself, Belize Movement) and Mr. Aston Chavarria (Belize Youth Empowerment for Change).

The activity is part of the National AIDS Commission’s strategic programme in response to HIV and AIDS in Belize.

Antiretroviral shortage reaches 100% in Venezuela

Image: Alberto Nieves, Director de ACCSI.

On the World Health Day, Corresponsales Clave (LAC Key Correspondent Team) spoke with Alberto Nieves, Executive Director of Acción Ciudadana Contra el SIDA (ACCSI), a CSO from Venezuela, about the setbacks that health has had in that country that takes him away from the well-known slogan promoted for this year by the World Health Organization: “Health for All”.

Alberto is an activist who lives with HIV and who continues to defend the rights of people living with HIV in this Caribbean country and told us that “by March 2018, the shortage of antiretroviral drugs reached 100% in Venezuela, which It is affecting more than 80 thousand people with HIV. This is the conclusion of the monitoring process carried out by the country-wide Focal Points of the Venezuelan Network of Positive People (RVG +), with the technical support of Acción Ciudadana Contra el SIDA (ACCSI). They have been monitoring the specialized pharmacies for the delivery of antiretroviral drugs (ARV) located in the Venezuelan states and attached to the public health system. ” Alberto Nieves, director of ACCSI.

We do nothing with only some drugs.

In the monitoring carried out, says Nieves, it was identified that in some pharmacies there were still 4 types of antiretrovirals, of the 27 that the Venezuelan National AIDS Program, but that cannot be delivered. “The few (medicines) that exist have not been able to be provided to people with HIV, since these drugs need to be taken with other antiretrovirals that are in short supply, which prevents compliance with the technical standard of the Ministry of Health and recommendations International Organizations of the World Health Organization (WHO), how is it that “ART schemes must be based on a combination of at least 3 ARVs”.

To illustrate the situation, Alberto gives us an example: “this is the case of the antiretroviral Darunavir that must be given together with ritonavir to complete the therapy. Since 2017, the Ministry of Health maintains a total of 12,000 bottles in its stores, but they have not been able to be delivered to people with HIV who require it, given that ritonavir is not available. By November 2017 there were 850 people with HIV who required this antiretroviral regimen, many of them reported that they had more than six (6) months without taking it. Darunavir is a medicine that is part of the rescue treatment, which is prescribed to those people with HIV who have presented multiple failures or failures in at least two different antiretroviral regimens. For many of these people, this is the only scheme left for them to continue living, according to the opinion of their treating physicians. “
The list of 100% unsuppressed drugs is long: abacavir, abacavir / lamivudine, efavirenz, efavirenz / tenofovir / emtricitabine, etravirine, tenofovir, tenofovir / emtricitabine, lamivudine, lamivudine / zidovudine, lopinavir / ritonavir, nevirapine, raltegravir, reyataz, rilpivirine / tenofovir / emtricitabine, ritonavir, and zidovudine are some of them.

No solutions for the short-term.

For several years, the Venezuelan Network of positive people has reported episodes of stockouts. Very large episodes that put the health and lives of thousands of people at risk, but episodes that were overcome with last-minute measures. But the current situation is more serious; Nieves tells us that, due to the accumulation of debt with the Strategic Fund for Medicines of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which would reach 20 million dollars, they have not been able to continue supplying medicines to the country. A similar situation happens with other drug suppliers who are reluctant to sell to Venezuela due to the large debts that the country maintains.

According to Nieves, the national investment to guarantee the supply of medicines and reagents for follow-up tests for 80 thousand people does not exceed 12 million dollars and, nevertheless, the country spent 25 million dollars in the purchase of weapons for the army in the year 2016.
Alberto does not miss the opportunity to call attention to us: “This crisis of the shortage of antiretroviral drugs could have been avoided if we had attended to the different and timely alerts made almost a decade ago by the RVG +, ACCSI and other NGOs with work in HIV in our country. Several reports prepared by ACCSI and RVG + prove it.”

Deterioration of health, a 20-year retreat

The social and economic deep crisis of Venezuela has caused millions of people to see their health at threat. It begins to report that the population on average has lost about 11 kg of their weight in the last two years. In the population of people with HIV this weight loss contributes to a worse their health, coupled with the lack of medication, can cause death.
Most antiretrovirals have a 100% stook out.

“The lack of antiretroviral drugs has caused thousands of deaths due to AIDS, hundreds and hundreds of people have suffered health relapses (…). In the last two years, there has been an increase in cases of people with Kaposi Sarcoma, a type of skin cancer that was eradicated at the beginning of the year 2000, thanks to the access of antiretroviral therapy that Venezuela had at that time. It is also observed that in public health centers people are arriving in very critical health states and in a terminal face, when evaluating doctors consider them AIDS cases, they return them to their homes, because they lack the medicines and clinical equipment that can rescue them to live. “
Abandoned by the government and the international community

The director of ACCSI is energetic in pointing out that “people with HIV are totally abandoned by the government of President Nicolás Maduro, who is mainly responsible for his inaction and omission in the face of situations of threats and risks to their lives and health, with irreversible damages in the aspects of health, psychological and moral “.
The crisis has reached such a point that no one is saved: “100% of people with HIV and AIDS, of all ideologies, with different economic and educational status, are being affected in the same way, they are violating their human rights” says Nieves.
Humanitarian Aid, now!

The only way to do something for Venezuelans at this time is through humanitarian aid from international cooperation and Nieves makes an immediate demand: “There are international protocols for those countries that are in emergency, as is the case of Venezuela, which must be implemented immediately, since otherwise thousands of deaths will continue to occur. We can not understand what are the reasons why the agencies of the United Nations system or the Global Fund do not apply humanitarian emergency protocols in Venezuela. We wonder how many more deaths will be required for the United Nations to implement such mechanisms in our country? “

On April 19th the Venezuela Crisis Group will organize a meeting with Venezuelan Civil Society

Join the meeting in this link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/33502939

AHF Applauds Decision of Trinidad & Tobago High Court to Declare Buggery Law Unconstitutional

KINGSTON, JAMAICA, W.I. (April 16, 2018) The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today applauds the move by the Trinidad and Tobago High Court to declare the buggery law—a Colonial-era anti-LGBT law— unconstitutional “This is a welcome development for the Caribbean and I hope other countries will follow,” said Caribbean Regional Director for AHF, Dr. Kevin Harvey.

The High Court of Trinidad and Tobago handed down a ruling on Thursday April 12 that declared unconstitutional Sections 13 and 16 of the country’s Sexual Offences Act that prohibit same-sex relations.

“HIV/AIDS administrators across the Caribbean have for years been pointing out that the buggery law impedes the success of initiatives to reduce HIV/AIDS transmission and offer adequate treatment and care. It also adds to discrimination which prevents certain groups from coming forward to receive the care and treatment they may need,” Dr. Harvey explained.

“The removal of this impediment will do a lot for efforts to redress incidents of stigma and discrimination as well as formulate and action policies against discrimination. This we believe will enable a more inclusive environment, allowing persons to take full advantage of the HIV/AIDS services available in their country,” Dr. Harvey pointed out.

Meanwhile, Southern Bureau Chief for AHF Caribbean, South and Central America, Michael Kahane, said the development augers well for advocacy for inclusiveness with respect to persons’ ability to freely access HIV/AIDS services especially those in high risk groups. “This is a step in the right direction as it relates to reducing and eventually eliminating stigma and discrimination,” he said.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 889,000 individuals in 39 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Europe and 14 across 15 states and the District of Columbia in the US. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare.

# # #

Media contact:

Dr. Kevin Harvey
Caribbean Regional Director
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
183 Hagley Park Rd.
Kingston 11, Jamaica WI.
Kevin.Harvey@aidshealth.org
http://www.aidshealth.org

PANCAP Multi-stakeholders Forum to discuss collective strategy for ending AIDS.

 Monday, 16 April, 2018 (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 host the Joint Regional Dialogue with Faith Leaders, Parliamentarians, Civil Society Leaders, National AIDS Programme Managers and Youth Leaders.

Approximately 60 delegates representing Parliamentarians, Faith Leaders, Youth Leaders, Key Populations, People Living with HIV and Civil Society from across the Caribbean will meet in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on 24 – 25 April 2018. Their major focus as stakeholder groups under the PANCAP Justice for ALL (JFA) Programme is how best to collaborate to end the AIDS epidemic.

Since the inauguration of the JFA Programme in November 2013, PANCAP has convened approximately 16 consultations with national and regional stakeholder groups, meeting separately and in some cases jointly. All groups have agreed to contribute to ending AIDS around 15 actionable recommendations included in the PANCAP JFA Road Map. Some of these actions are already being implemented. Others can be implemented immediately while a few others require further discussion for implementation in the medium and long terms.

PANCAP Director, Mr Dereck Springer referring to the latest status report on AIDS by UNAIDS is of the view that “while there have been many successes in the areas of prevention and treatment, much more has to be done with respect to behaviour change, reducing stigma and discrimination, sustainable financing for HIV and integrated health if we are to get to the finishing line.  AIDS is far from over”.

Indeed, the Caribbean can celebrate the fact that seven of the 11 Countries in the World to achieve the elimination of mother-to-child transmission are from this region and approximately 52 percent of People Living with HIV are on treatment today compared to less than 5% when PANCAP was established in 2001. Scientific studies have established the 90-90-90 Targets. These reveal that if by 2020, 90 percent of the people living with HIV get tested, 90 percent of those testing positive are treated immediately and 90 percent of those on treatment achieve low levels of virus in their blood so as not to transmit the disease, AIDS can be ended by 2030.

Test, Treat and Defeat

This multi-stakeholder Consultation is a continuation of an ongoing dialogue. It is organized to give each stakeholder group an opportunity to propose how they plan to contribute to achieving the end of AIDS and what type of collaboration is required.

The Regional Parliamentarians Forum held in Jamaica in May 2017 comprising 55 participants from government and opposition parties agreed to examine how best to implement the PANCAP Model Anti-Discrimination policies approved by the CARICOM Legal Affairs Committee in 2012.

Approximately 60 Faith Leaders representing a cross section of religious denominations from across the region met in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in February 2017 and issued a declaration with 10 actionable recommendations. Among the recommendations was to establish a Regional Consultative Group and National Faith Leaders Network and to include representatives of Key Populations to discuss the way forward. This was followed by a joint consultation of Faith Leaders and Key Populations in Suriname in February 2018.

Mr Colin Robinson, Chair of the Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (CAISO) and Co-Chair of the Joint Consultation warned that while we expect to encounter differences in opinions, this multi stakeholder consultation will be meaningful only if participants put forward frank ideas and are committed to honesty.

Canon Garth Minott Co-Chair, reflecting on the Joint consultation in Suriname said, “the agreements (from the joint consultation) will be valuable input into the agenda of the multi stakeholder forum partnership, as principles is one of the outcomes.”

Among the recommendations to advance policies and programmes designed to reduce stigma and discrimination were calls to the faith community to “create spaces of hospitality” based on human rights for all, reach out to the marginalized groups and incorporate sexual education in their programmes.   Key Populations were requested to foster a spirit of appreciation for the differences among religious leaders and denominations through respectful engagement.

“This multi stakeholder consultation must constructively chart the way forward by accelerating the implementation of those common agreements while working through respectful dialogue rather than dogmatism to overcome differences among and even within stakeholder groups. Only in this way can we contribute to ending AIDS” said Dr Edward Greene former UN Secretary General Special Envoy for HIV in the Caribbean, now PANCAP Special Advisor.

 – 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 and 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

PANCAP says ruling affirms the right to human dignity by all.

Friday, 13 April, 2018 (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, welcomes Judge Devindra Rampersad’s ruling which states: “The court declares that sections 13 and 16 of the [Sexual Offences Act] are unconstitutional, illegal, null, void, invalid and of no effect to the extent that these laws criminalise any acts constituting consensual sexual conduct between adults.”

The ruling in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago acknowledges that every individual regardless of their race, colour, gender, age or sexual orientation has the right to human dignity.

This ruling is aligned with PANCAP’s Justice for All Programme which calls for the establishment of procedures to accelerate the process for the repeal of laws decriminalising sexual acts in private between consenting adults and replace with or retain the provision criminalising sexual acts between any person in public, with the use of force, and acts of indecency committed against any person of less than 16 years of age.

PANCAP reflects on one of the recommendations of the Regional Consultation of Faith Leaders in February 2017 in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago which acknowledged areas of litigation that may challenge religious values and the responses required to harmonise principles and practices around human rights, human sexuality and human dignity. In handing down his decision, Justice Rampersad said that the ruling however is “not an assessment or denial of the religious beliefs of anyone …However, this conclusion is a recognition that the beliefs of some, is not the belief of all”.

PANCAP therefore encourages continued dialogue between the Faith Community and the LGBTI community on areas of agreement and commonality.

– 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.

Requests for information:

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

Trinidad and Tobago High Court has ruled the nation’s buggery laws as unconstitutional.

On Thursday, social activist Jason Jones won his case against the State in a ground-breaking decision which sets a legal precedent moving forward.

Justice Devindra Rampersad ruled that Sections 13 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act are “unconstitutional, illegal, null, void, invalid and are of no effect to the extent that these laws criminalize any acts constituting consensual sexual conduct between adults”.

The court will meet again to hear whether the offending sections should be struck down in their entirety along with the issue of costs.

Members of the LGBTQI+ community along with other human rights supporters tearfully expressed their happiness with the ruling.

Jones spoke after the ruling saying that the country must now come together.

“What I think the judge pointed out was ‘here every creed and race find an equal place’ and I think we must all come together now and embrace each other in true love and respect. This is not about LGBT, this is about the rights and freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, and I hope that everyone walks away from this calmly and collectively,” he said.

Head of CAISO Colin Robertson said the matter has restored his faith in the justice system in Trinidad and Tobago.

“I am really humbled that I live in a nation that could deliver that judgement. I think it’s onto the Parliament to ensure that sexual orientation and gender identity are in the Equal Opportunities Act. It’s a tremendous day thanks to Jason for having the boldness to bring the case. I have incredible faith now in justice in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

Dialogue on Faith Leaders’ role in ending AIDS continues with consultation in Guyana

Friday, 6 April 2018 (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, hosted the Guyana Chapter of the Faith Leaders Consultation at the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Georgetown Guyana.

The forum was held less than a month before the Joint Regional Dialogue with Faith Leaders, Parliamentarians, Civil Society Leaders, National AIDS Programme Managers and Youth Leaders which is scheduled for 24 and 25 April 2018 in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

The forum was hosted by Ms Lorna Mcpherson, Member Religious Steering Committee, Mr Dereck Springer, Director of PANCAP and Dr Edward Greene, PANCAP Advisor.  Also in attendance were Bishop Francis Alleyne, Roman Catholic Church, Pandit Navindradat, Lilah Guyana Pandits Council, Fr. Carl Peters Priest, Diocese of Guyana (Anglican), Bishop Glenna Spencer, Methodist Church, Guyana, Mr Telford Payne, Representative Seventh Day Adventist, Pastor Natasha Corrica Bible Way Church and Pastor Ronald McGarrell Chairman, Inter-Religious Organisations (IRO).

Image: L – R Dr Edward Greene, PANCAP Advisor, Mr Dereck Springer Director of PANCAP and Ms Lorna McPherson, Member Religious Steering Committee. 

Faith leaders continued deliberations on the actions and activities that remove barriers of stigma and discrimination and create an environment in which vulnerable groups can access health care.  The Director of PANCAP also challenged faith leaders to organize smaller meetings in which key strategic actions that support vulnerable groups can be determined.

The Consultation was a follow up to the national and regional consultations, which commenced in 2017, with a number of regional activities scheduled for 2018. The first consultation held on February 1 and 2, 2017 in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, focused on the contributions of Faith Leaders toward ending the epidemic by 2030. It specifically addressed the recommendations from the UN High Level 2016 Political Declaration and agreed on strategies to promote healthy living for all age groups, addressed best practices, identified gaps to be filled, resources required and types of regional cooperation to be undertaken to implement recommendations from the consultation.

Click here for more information on the PANCAP Faith Leaders Consultation.

PANCAP Director discusses sustainability of Region’s HIV response with Finance Secretary (Guyana)

Image (L-R: Dr Martin Oditt, UNAIDS Country Director, Dr Edward Greene PANCAP Advisor, Dr Hector Butts, Finance Secretary Ministry of Finance – Guyana and Mr Dereck Springer Director of PANCAP)

Thursday 5 April 2018, Georgetown Guyana: Sustainability of the Region’s HIV response continues to be a priority for the Partnership. Today, 5 April, Director of PANCAP Mr Dereck Springer met with Finance Secretary Dr Hector Butts at the Ministry of Finance (Guyana) to discuss sustainability and HIV domestic financing.

Mr Springer was accompanied by Dr Martin Oditt, UNAIDS Country Director and Dr Edward Greene, PANCAP Advisor.

PAHO calls for breaking down barriers that keep one in three people in the Americas from accessing health

World Health Day will be observed on 7 April 2018. 

Washington, D.C., April 4, 2018 (PAHO / WHO) — On the eve of World Health Day, the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa F. Etienne, and former president of Chile Michelle Bachelet today called for collective actions to ensure that all people, everywhere have access to the health services they need.

In the Americas region, one-third of the population faces obstacles to accessing health. “Health is a right, and as such we must overcome barriers to have access to care,” said Etienne, noting that out-of-pocket payments that many people must make to obtain health services “constitutes the main barrier and pushes families towards poverty.”

Other barriers are geographic or institutional in nature, including stigma and discrimination in health services. “It is not enough to have hospitals and health centers, these institutions must have the right combination of human resources, infrastructure and equipment, medicines and other health technologies, to avoid long waiting times and offer quality care,” Etienne said.

Universal health, the theme of World Health Day 2018, implies that all people and communities have access, without discrimination, to quality health services without having to expose themselves to financial difficulties. Under the slogan “Universal Health: Everyone, Everywhere,” the campaign calls on representatives of governments, academia and civil society to stimulate dialogue on policies that can help achieve health for all by 2030.

“We need a massive regional movement and listen to all voices” to move towards universal health, Etienne said. Last year, PAHO created the High-Level Commission on “Universal Health in the 21st Century: 40 Years of Alma-Ata,” led by Michelle Bachelet.
To achieve universal health, “we have to build national consensus because the challenges are of such magnitude that they require the commitment and effort of all,” said Bachelet.
Forty years after the Declaration of Alma-Ata—which promoted the values of the right to health, equity and solidarity—the region of the Americas continues to be one of the most inequitable in the world.

Bachelet noted that there have been important advances since Alma-Ata, but that there are still major gaps between and within the countries. “At the same time that we see health centers with quality we could not have imagined in the past, there are still women and children who continue to die from totally avoidable causes,” she said, adding that “inequality is the great enemy in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Bachelet said that PAHO’s regional strategy for universal health along with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the sustainable health agenda for the Americas infuse new life into the path toward “health for all” outlined at Alma-Ata. She urged greater emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention, reducing segmentation and fragmentation in health services, safeguarding the working conditions of health personnel, including new technologies and innovation, and for building health financing systems that promote solidarity.

“In this matter there are neither miracles nor shortcuts, what there is a long road of collective work that leads to more justice for all,” said Bachelet.

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Helpful links:
World Health Day: www.paho.org/whd

Live stream of the conference: https://livestream.com/pahotv/WHD2018

Campaign materials: www.paho.org/world-health-day/?page_id=820

Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGr1l-DQK4Y