Media Releases – Page 45

NACC Trinidad hosts Advocacy and Leadership Workshop for PLHIV, NGOs, Caregivers and Support Networks

The National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC) Secretariat, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, hosted a two-day workshop from September 8-9th on Treatment Adherence and Nutrition at the Old Fire Building in Port of Spain. The workshop targeted Persons living with HIV and AIDS, newly diagnosed persons with HIV, Persons caring for PLHIVs, Support networks for PLHIVs. Representatives from ten NGOs attended including CBOs, FBOs, Key Populations. Ten NGOs were represented at the workshop.

The objectives of the workshop were:-

i. To sensitize participants as to the importance of medication adherence and nutrition for persons living with HIV/AIDS.
ii. To help participants understand the medical and psychological issues associated with PLHIV is adherence to medication and their nutritional needs.
iii. To provide medical and social perspectives on medication adherence barriers for patients with HIV and to discuss strategies for promoting adherence to antiretroviral medications.
iv. To identify the unique role that support networks and caregivers play in the promotion of medication adherence and nutrition for PLHIVs

This workshop would contribute towards achievement of the 90-90-90 targets through, improved treatment adherence rates and literacy among PLHIVs and their support networks, increased capacity of PLHIV to adopt healthy lifestyles, strengthened support network for the promotion of treatment adherence and healthy lifestyle and improved understanding of the medical and psychosocial issues associated with client’s adherence to medication and their nutritional needs.

The workshop was facilitated by experienced physicians and the Senior Dietician in the Ministry of Health as well as one NGO. The facilitators leading this workshop were:

Mrs Kitesha Francis-Jack – Registered Dietician, Ministry of Health
Dr. David Musa- Medical Research Foundation,
Dr. Aboh – Treatment Physician- Ward 2 Clinic San Fernando General Hospital and
Ms. Beverly King – Founder of ComTalk International

The workshop was highly interactive with many team-based activities and included topics such as:

Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyle
What is nutrition?
Why nutrition?
The importance of nutrition
Malnutrition
HIV & Malnutrition
Objectives of nutritional care and support
Nutrition required
Eating a balanced diet
Healthy Meal Plan
Undesirable significant weight loss
Coping with nutrition-related problems

Treatment and Adherence

Brief history of HIV & AIDS
Understanding HIV and AIDS
HIV Transmission
To do list when one finds out they are HIV positive
What is treatment and adherence?
Reasons why clients do not respond to medication?
Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART)
What is medication adherence?
Barriers to adherence
How do HIV medications work?
Reasons for Non-Adherence

One participant noted that Mrs Francis Jack was very well informed and produced a comprehensive outline of diet and nutrition considerations for PLHIV. In addition, Dr. Aboh and Dr. Musa provided a great deal of medical insight on the subject of treatment adherence and there was a lot of discussion around the topic of drug-resistance testing and the development of drug-resistant strains of the HIV virus. Participants were so pleased with having the opportunity to speak with such experts that several sought direct counsel from the doctors for themselves and/or other PLHIV to whom they provided support.

Participants also expressed their satisfaction not only with the added information provided by both Dr. Musa and Dr. Aboh but also with the facilitating of Ms. King was able to smoothly and efficiently manage the event procession. Participants were pleased to have been allowed such an interactive discussion space.

PANCAP Consultation Concludes with Priority Issues for Regional Advocacy including access to Health Care by all, Efficiency in Supply Chain Management and Inclusion of all Genders

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, concluded the Consultation to formulate a Regional Advocacy Strategy and Five-Year Implementation Plan, held in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on October 25 – 26, with strategic priority areas for advocacy. These were developed by a wide cross-section of participants from the region including civil society organisations and National AIDS Programme Managers. The consultation identified core issues for advocacy including increased access to health care by People Living with HIV (PLHIV) without fear of stigma and discrimination, improving efficiency in the supply chain management through adequate forecasting and engaging with policymakers on developing anti-discrimination legislation.

Participants engaged in highly interactive discussions using the thematic areas of systems and policy reform, access to justice and redress, community, social and health services and financing and sustainability.

The consultation also noted the need to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities to access education, prevention and treatment as well as the need for migrants to access health care services regardless of their status.

The consultation noted that access to health care by all, including PLHIV was linked directly to the Region’s ability to achieve the 90-90-90 targets. Recommendations were made to advocate for this issue at all levels including high-level advocacy with policy-makers.

The pivotal role of forecasting in supply chain management was highlighted as participants expressed concern for the need for greater efficiency through improved forecasting and joint regional negotiation for the procurement of ARVs and laboratory supplies

Participants also propagated for gender mainstreaming and addressing the rights and health requirements of transgender and other groups not usually included in dialogue.

The outcomes of the Consultation which will be reflected in the Regional Advocacy Strategy and Five-Year Implementation Plan will be disseminated to the public via the PANCAP website (www.PANCAP.org).

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Editor’s Notes:

Participants included NAPs from Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Commonwealth of Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, selected key population leaders from the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CariFLAGS), Caribbean Sex Work Coalition (CSWC) and the Caribbean Network of People Living with HIV (CRN+), Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE), Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (CAISO); Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), J-Flag/Equality for All, The University of the West Indies Rights Advocacy Project (U-RAP), United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM), the DeMarco Foundation, CARICOM Youth Ambassadors Programme (CYAP) and key population youth, faith leaders, parliamentarians, and private sector, Caribbean Med Labs Foundation (CMLF), Live Up: The Caribbean Media Alliance, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Johns Hopkins Knowledge for Health Project, Linkages, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief-United States Agency for International Development (PEPFAR-USAID), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

What is PANCAP?

PANCAP is a Caribbean regional partnership of governments, regional civil society organisations, regional institutions and organisations, bilateral and multilateral agencies and contributing donor partners which was established on 14 February 2001. PANCAP provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic, coordinates the response through the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS to maximise efficient use of resources and increase impact, mobilises resources and build capacity of partners.

Contact:
Timothy Austin
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

Hon. Terrence Deyalsingh, Minister of Health, Trinidad and Tobago receives Champions for Change Award from PANCAP

Honourable Terrence Deyalsingh, Minister of Health, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was presented with his PANCAP Champions for Change Award by Mr Dereck Springer, Director of PANCAP, Monday October 23 at the Ministry of Health in Port-of-Spain. Minister Deyalsingh was unable to attend the Champions for Change IV – Relaunch held on September 12 – 13 in Georgetown Guyana, due to prior commitments.

Minister Deyalsingh was recognised for leadership as a member of parliament advocating for the end of AIDS.

Profile

Honourable Terrence Deyalsingh is the Minister of Health and the Member of Parliament for St. Joseph, in the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. Before his stint in politics, the Hon. Terrence Deyalsingh started his career as a lecturer in the Institute of Training and Development (INTAD). From 2003-2006 he was a member of the Cabinet -appointed Committee on Labour Market Reform and chaired the sub-committee on Labour Market Information, all of which derived from his passion for business management. Subsequently, Minister Deyalsingh entered the realm of politics, where he served as a Temporary Opposition Senator during the 10th Republican Parliament. He was appointed a Senator on November 2, 2010 and served until October 14, 2013, when he accepted the nomination to contest the St. Joseph constituency. During this tenure in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago, he has served on the Standing Orders Committee of the Senate, as well as on the Finance Committee.

Read more about the Champions for Change IV – Relaunch here.

Jesus Embraced Diversity, Says JASL Chairman

He is accustomed to hearing the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL) being referred to as a gay lobby group, but Anglican priest and chairman of the board of directors for the human rights organisation, Canon Garth Minott, said, like Jesus, they are simply embracing diversity.

“Any churchman, woman, boy, child, leader, follower who takes the life of Jesus seriously would come at it from a different perspective because certainly the Jesus who represents the core persons in the faith, is a person who dealt with differences of gender, age, sexual orientation etc,” he told editors and reporters during a Gleaner Editors’ forum at the newspaper’s North Street headquarters on Thursday.

He pointed to the woman in the Bible who was caught in adultery and was almost stoned to death until Jesus stepped in. While the law required that she be stoned, Jesus took into consideration other factors.

“So the more I read about Jesus and think about his life, the more I see him embracing diversity, embracing difference and in particular embracing those who are on the margins of society. There is a critical mass of the one percent that are usually left out in society and those of us who follow Jesus knows that he is very much with them and we can’t leave them alone,” he said.

The JASL is a non-governmental organisation that provides HIV education, treatment, care and support to persons living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, and persons vulnerable to HIV infection. Among its target population are men who have sex with men and the transgender community.

Given the work of the organisation, Minott who is a lecturer at the United Theological College of the West Indies, admitted that the group has often been accused of trying to normalise homosexuality in Jamaica.

“It (JASL) has been called all kinds of name,” he said.

“Anybody who stands up for anything, of course you are going to be called all kinds of names, but the key is that the evidence suggests that we are doing work and the data is there to substantiate what we do,” he asserted.

PANCAP hosts Consultation to formulate Regional Advocacy Strategy

Tuesday, October 17, 2017 (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 a Consultation to formulate a Regional Advocacy Strategy and Five-Year Implementation Plan. The consultation, which is a collaboration between PANCAP and the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities-Coalition el Centro Orientación e investigación Integral (CVC-COIN), will be held on 25-26 October 2017 in Port-of-Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

The expected outcome of the Consultation is the establishment of a PANCAP Regional Advocacy Strategy and Five-Year Plan that will guide all stakeholders in their efforts to advocate at all levels for revisions to laws and policies that remove barriers to key populations accessing HIV prevention and treatment.

According to Director of PANCAP, Dereck Springer, the consultation is pivotal to the Region’s response to HIV since recent advocacy efforts have been limited in their reach, effectiveness and strategic focus. “As the regional HIV response has evolved, PANCAP has been challenged to shift the focus of its technical expertise and financial resources to provide leadership, strategic guidance and coordination for law and policy reform efforts,” stated the Director. “Addressing these new demands alongside resource reductions and competing priorities of a diverse range of government, donor and civil society partners has been a challenge for PANCAP”.

He further explained that there has been limited ability to dedicate the long-term, careful attention necessary to follow up work on key areas such as country adoption of the PANCAP Model Anti-Discrimination Legislation, endorsement of the Justice For All Declaration and national-level implementation of Justice For All plans. The consultation will establish a framework that will attempt to correct this and aid National AIDS Programme Managers (NAPs) and Civil Society Organisations to streamline efforts to advocate for law and policy reform, access to justice and redress, community and health services and financing and sustainability that will assist in creating an enabling environment for vulnerable groups to access HIV prevention and treatment without the fear of stigma and discrimination.

The consultation will also address the absence of key populations’ voices at the highest levels of regional advocacy efforts. The discussion will seek to build on PANCAP’s work with Key Populations and their network to support capacity building, primarily in terms of organizational development and to ensure their access to CARICOM organs including the Chief Medical Officers Caucus, Council for Human and Social Development and where applicable the Heads of Government Conference.

Participants will include NAPs from Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Commonwealth of Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, selected key population leaders from the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CariFLAGS), Caribbean Sex Work Coalition (CSWC) and the Caribbean Network of People Living with HIV (CRN+), Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE), Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (CAISO); Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), J-Flag/Equality for All, The University of the West Indies Rights Advocacy Project (U-RAP), United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM), the DeMarco Foundation, CARICOM Youth Ambassadors Programme (CYAP) and key population youth, faith leaders, parliamentarians, and private sector, Caribbean Med Labs Foundation (CMLF), Live Up: The Caribbean Media Alliance, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Johns Hopkins Knowledge for Health Project, Linkages, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief-United States Agency for International Development (PEPFAR-USAID), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

– ENDS –

PANCAP convenes 27th Meeting of the Executive Board under the Chairmanship of Hon. Robert Luke Browne, Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment, St Vincent and the Grenadines

Wednesday, October 11 2017 (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 27th Meeting of the Executive Board today at the Beachcombers Hotel, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The meeting assessed the Partnership’s progress towards the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis (EMTCT) and the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets – 90 percent of people living with HIV know they have the virus, 90 percent of those who know they are infected are receiving sustainable antiretroviral treatment and 90 percent of those people on treatment have sustainable suppression of their virus by 2020.

The meeting will also reflect on PANCAP’s achievements; Sharpest regional reduction in HIV incidence by 48.1%; Decline in AIDS-related deaths by 55%; Antiretroviral coverage increased to 52% from less than 5% of the eligible population in 2001; Virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

The Executive Board will discuss the recent findings of the assessment of PANCAP and CARICOM Council of Human and Social Development (COHSOD), Ministers of Health endorsement of the Board’s decision to pursue Option 2: Streamline and Refocus of the three options identified by the assessment. Specifically, the Board will discuss and agree on the approach to streamlining and refocusing.

The meeting will receive the financial report and updates from the PANCAP Coordinating Unit, Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) Centro de Orientacion e Investigacion Integral (COIN) and the OECS Global Fund grants, CARICOM Youth Ambassadors and the Caribbean Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS. Members will also identify the gaps and priorities for greater focus over the next year.

Read more about the PANCAP Executive Board here.

– ENDS –

Please see images of the meeting below:

(L-R) Director of PANCAP, Dereck Springer, Chair of the Executive Board of PANCAP, Hon. Robert Luke Browne, Minister Health, Wellness and the Environment, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Roger McLean of The University of the West Indies and Dr Douglas Slater, Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development, CARICOM Secretariat.

What is PANCAP?

UNAIDS and UNFPA launch road map to stop new HIV infections

GENEVA, 10 October 2017—As part of global efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat, UNAIDS, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and partners have launched a new road map to reduce new HIV infections. The HIV prevention 2020 road map was launched at the first meeting of the Global HIV Prevention Coalition. The coalition is chaired by the Executive Directors of UNAIDS and UNFPA and brings together United Nations Member States, civil society, international organizations and other partners as part of efforts to reduce new HIV infections by 75% by 2020.

Despite progress in reducing AIDS-related deaths, which have fallen by nearly 50% since the peak of the epidemic, declines in new HIV infections among adults are lagging. While new HIV infections among children have fallen by 47% since 2010, new HIV infections among adults have declined by only 11%.

“Scaling up treatment alone will not end AIDS,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “We need more energy and action put into HIV prevention—stronger leadership, increased investment and community engagement to ensure that everyone, particularly people at higher risk of HIV, can protect themselves against the virus.” “In many places, lack of access to education, lack of agency and lack of autonomy over their own bodies keep adolescent girls from claiming their human rights. And the poorest girls have the least power to decide whether, when or whom to marry and whether, when or how often to become pregnant,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. “This lack of power makes each one of these girls extremely vulnerable to HIV infection, sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy.”

In 2016, in the United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS, countries committed to reduce new HIV infections by 75%—from 2.2 million in 2010 to 500 000 in 2020. The new road map developed by UNAIDS, UNFPA and partners will put countries on the Fast-Track to achieve this important target.

“The Coalition is here to recognize that we all matter,” said Laurel Sprague, Executive Director, The Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+). “That means doing the hard work to ensure that people living with HIV are able to stay healthy, alive, and free from soul-crushing prejudice and discrimination—and the hard work to make sure that everyone who is not HIV-positive has the support and resources they need to remain HIV negative.”

The HIV prevention 2020 road map contains a 10-point action plan that lays out immediate, concrete steps countries need to take to accelerate progress. Steps include conducting up-to-date analysis to assess where the opportunities are for maximum impact, developing guidance to identify gaps and actions for rapid scale-up, training to develop expertise in HIV prevention and on developing networks and addressing legal and policy barriers to reach the people most affected by HIV, including young people and key populations.

The road map identifies factors that have hindered progress, such as gaps in political leadership, punitive laws, a lack of services accessible to young people and a lack of HIV prevention services in humanitarian settings. It also highlights the importance of community engagement as advocates, to ensure service delivery and for accountability.

The road map also identifies serious gaps in funding and budget allocation—UNAIDS estimates that around one quarter of HIV budgets should be allocated to HIV prevention programmes; however, in 2016, many countries were spending less than 10% of their HIV budgets on prevention, and many international donors were spending less than a quarter.

“UNAIDS is urging commitment and leadership for measurable results,” said Mr Sidibé. “Leadership to address sensitive political issues and leadership in mobilizing adequate funding of HIV prevention programmes.”

To reduce new HIV infections by 75% will require an intensive focus on HIV prevention, combined with the scale-up of HIV testing and treatment. Taking a location–population-based approach to ensure effective and efficient planning and programming, and a people-centred approach that responds to the needs of people at higher risk of HIV will be critical.

Concerted efforts will be needed to reach adolescent girls and young women and their male partners, to scale up combination HIV prevention programmes for key populations, to increase the availability and uptake of condoms, to expand voluntary medical male circumcision programmes for HIV prevention and to ensure that people at higher risk of HIV have access to preventative medicines.

The road map encourages countries to develop a 100-day plan for immediate actions, including setting national targets, reviewing the progress made against the plan after 100 days, reassessing their national prevention programmes and taking immediate remedial action. It outlines how different partners can contribute and includes actions for civil society, development partners, philanthropic institutions and the business community. By reaching these targets, progress in reducing new HIV infections should accelerate significantly, setting countries firmly on the path towards ending their AIDS epidemics.

Read the road map here.

HIV Positive National football player fears discrimination from disclosure of status

(Georgetown, Guyana) A twenty-one-year-old National Football Player has been living with HIV since he was 17-years-old, and now he wants to find a way to break the news to his teammates of his status. However, as much as he believes it’s the right thing to do, he fears being discriminated against, simply because football in Guyana isn’t welcoming to his ‘type’.

To protect his identity, Chronicle Sport will refer to the player as ‘John’.

When ‘John’ was 17, he was invited by some friends to party, but, what he didn’t know was that he was being set-up by his friends. John was raped, repeatedly by a group of men.

“My mother use to ensure that my life was just about school and football, nothing else. I never got the chance to really socialize and so on, but then, mom decided to leave the country for a quick spin and asked that I stay with a family member for the period of time” John said.

“I went with my friends to this party in Kitty, they said it will be fun and I should learn the streets, because I was mommy boy. To make a long story short, I remember being undressed by some men, and got up feeling sore in my a**” John said, in relating his gruesome ordeal with some men he deemed as homosexuals.

The talented player, who represented Guyana at the youth level, including twice at the Inter Guiana Games (IGG), said football is an escape from the ‘noise’ around him. In fact, he said it was football which helped him to cope with abuse at home, suffered at the hands of his father who would also beat his mother to a pulp whenever the two would have an argument.

“My father was the cruelest man I’ve ever met. He use to kick my mom, one time, he hit her with a hammer, and I thought she died that night. But it was a norm in the ghetto, no one came to help. My father died and I never asked why, I didn’t cry and my mother kept me under her wing because I was all she had until my sister came along” John related in an emotional interview.

John’s story was substantiated by his mother and his counsellor, with both women claiming that despite a report being made about the incident of rape, nothing was ever done.

The player, who features for one of Georgetown’s popular football clubs, said he tried not to relate his story to anyone about being raped by men, since people would say he’s gay, “but I’m not. I am not homophobic, but I don’t endorse that kind of lifestyle, which is why that day still haunts me and If wasn’t for football, my mother and some really, really close family and my counsellor, I would’ve been dead by now because I attempted to take my life a few times.”

FINDING OUT BEING HIV POSITIVE

Almost a year after the incident, John fell ill and his mother who works in the medical field, thought her son had pneumonia, “I never thought about HIV” the player’s mother revealed to Chronicle Sport, adding that she thought he probably got some other form of autoimmune disease.

A trip to Georgetown Hospital would change the family’s life after John’s blood test showed that he was HIV Positive. Several tests done at a number of medical institutions in Guyana by the family didn’t change the positive result.

“I can’t even explain the amount of things that went through my mind. But I never had sex before that incident and I never had sex in my life. I met a girl while studying, and I told her I had HIV and she stopped talking to me” John said.

SCARED OF DISCRIMINATION

“Football is my life, understand, there’s nothing that brings me more joy right now other than playing football, even if it’s on my PlayStation but right now, we are searching for ways to come out; come out and tell my teammates ‘hey, I’m HIV Positive’, but I know this game and how unwelcoming it is to people who aren’t seen as normal, be it sexual orientation or their health.”

There has never been a player in Guyana who came out publicly or even hinted to his teammates that he’s HIV positive, but, there have been highly speculated instances of players who died as a result of contracting the virus.

Reports are prevalent from outside of Guyana, where players lose their professional contract after being tested positive, as is the case of Cameroon International Samuel Nled who, just days after signing his contract, was released by his club after his HIV results returned positive.

President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Wayne Forde, when asked if there are provisions to deal with players like John, said “the position of the GFF is very clear when it comes to discrimination, we insist that there’s no place for it in football. I think with the case of HIV, the GFF will not stop anyone from playing the beautiful game unless concrete evidence and medical guidance. I think thanks to more tools of education, people now, unlike the old times, know how to co-exist.”

However, John disagrees with the GFF president, stating “there’s no education for sportsmen and women in Guyana about a lot of things, and HIV happens to be one of them. I know, in football, locally, there are no medical done on our players, clubs and the federation here pay no interest in that part of the game. Take me for example, people don’t know when I was really sick, but, thanks to my mother and close family, I have my antiretroviral drugs; tenofovir, lamivudine, emtricitabine, efavirenz and other drugs that keep me well, along with eating healthy.”

Caribbean Health Ministers agree on new agenda to attain universal health by 2030

Health Ministers from the Caribbean and other countries have agreed on a new health agenda to combat diseases and attain universal health by 2030.

The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), which is holding its 29th Pan American Sanitary Conference in Washington, DC, said that the meeting also agreed on actions to strengthen tobacco control, maintain the elimination of measles and rubella, and improve the health of indigenous, Afro-descendant and Roma peoples.

“The health leaders approved an ambitious and comprehensive program to combat disease and make health systems in their countries universal and sustainable by 2030,” PAHO said.

It said that the Sustainable Health Agenda for the Americas 2030, which draws inspiration from the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, was adopted by unanimity during the 29th Pan American Sanitary Conference.

The new agenda commits countries to achieve 11 goals and 60 targets that will be used to measure progress towards those goals.

PAHO said these range from reaching universal health coverage to ending the HIV / AIDS epidemic in the Americas, including the Caribbean, by 2030.

PAHO said the top health authorities committed to adopt legislation to establish 100 per cent smoke-free environments in all countries of the Americas by 2022, one of the measures considered most effective by the World Health Organization (WHO) to control the tobacco epidemic and prevent associated diseases.

Currently, PAHO said 17 of the 35 countries in the region that are members of PAHO lack national regulations that establish 100 per cent smoke-free environments in all public settings, in closed workspaces and on public transport.

PAHO said this measure is considered one of the four “best buys” for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, along with the inclusion of large health warnings with images on all tobacco packages, tobacco taxes, and a total ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

The new strategy aims to accelerate the implementation of these four measures, which are part of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), PAHO said, noting that the treaty was ratified in 2005, “but its implementation has been uneven in a region with about 127 million smokers”.

PAHO said the region of the Americas was declared free of endemic transmission of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in 2015, and of measles in 2016.

This elimination, the first in the world, was the culmination of a 22-year effort that included mass vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella throughout the continent, PAHO said.

But, it said, since the measles virus is highly contagious and continues to circulate in other parts of the world, as does rubella, the region remains at risk of outbreaks of these diseases.

Before elimination, PAHO said some 158,000 rubella cases were reported in Latin America and the Caribbean in 1997 alone, and about 101,800 deaths were attributable to measles between 1971 and 1979 in the Americas.

In order to maintain this elimination, PAHO said Ministers of Health of the region approved an action plan that establishes four strategic lines: To guarantee universal access to vaccination services; strengthen surveillance; develop national and operational capacity, and set up standard mechanisms to provide a rapid response to imported cases.

PAHO said Health Ministers committed to combat the barriers to health faced by indigenous, Afro-descendant and Roma peoples with the approval of a new ethnicity and health policy.

Poor health outcomes among ethnic groups are common in the Americas, according to PAHO. It said maternal and infant mortality is consistently higher among indigenous and Afro-descendant groups.

In some countries, PAHO said HIV infection rates are more than nine times higher among Afro-descendants than Caucasians, and malnutrition among indigenous children is higher than among the general population.

“These populations also tend to have higher rates of violence against women and suicide,” says the new policy.

PAHO said the health disparities faced by these ethnic groups are the result of various obstacles in access to health services, such as geographical, economic and cultural obstacles.

The new policy, according to PAHO, focuses on strategic lines to improve health of ethnic groups that include generating evidence, with data disaggregated by ethnic group; policy action; social participation to create alliances with different ethnic populations; recognition of ancestral knowledge and traditional medicine, and capacity building in health professionals and community health workers

UN hails landmark pricing deal for faster roll-out of ‘game-changing’ HIV treatment

Senior United Nations officials today welcomed a breakthrough pricing agreement by global partners to accelerate the availability in low- and middle-income countries of the first affordable, generic, single-pill HIV treatment regimen.

“What we are talking about today with this life-changing announcement is about the quality of medicine, is about equity, is about the dignity, is about access to medicine as a human right,” Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), told a press conference at UN Headquarters.

The pricing agreement, he explained, will help ensure that the treatment will be made available to 92 countries, and people there will be able to benefit from “one of the best medicines we have” for first-line treatment.

At around $75 per person per year, the HIV treatment regimen containing dolutegravir (DTG) will be available to public-sector purchasers in these countries.

The agreement is expected to accelerate treatment rollout as part of global efforts to reach all 36.7 million people living with HIV with high-quality antiretroviral therapy. UNAIDS estimates that in 2016, 19.5 million – or just over half of all people living with HIV – had access to the life-saving medicines.

DTG, a best-in-class integrase inhibitor, is widely used in high-income countries and is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an alternative first-line HIV regimen. It is also a preferred treatment by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents, among others.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom also welcomed the agreement, stating that “this will save lives for the most vulnerable, bringing the world closer to the elimination of HIV […] WHO will support countries in the safe introduction and a swift transition to this game-changing new treatment.”

The agreement was announced by the Governments of South Africa and Kenya, together with UNAIDS and many other partners.

Earlier today, during an event entitled “Fast-Track: Quickening the pace of action to end AIDS” held on the sidelines of the General Assembly, Mr Sidibé called on world leaders to maintain “global solidarity” to end AIDS.

UNAIDS leads global efforts to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.