Archives: Media Releases

Dr Edward Greene, Advisor, UNAIDS, and Mr Dereck Springer, Director of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) met with Mrs Laura Longsworth (Chair, NAC) to engage in high-level discussions with policy makers, faith-based and Civil Society Organizations around the principles of the PANCAP Justice for All Programme (JFA), and the 2016 UN High Level Political Declaration.

The current JFA Roadmap includes the UNAIDS 90-90-90 treatment targets to help end the AIDS epidemic as well as 15 actionable recommendations which fall under five major areas:

• Focusing on family life and those in need.
• Identifying strategies for prevention, including sexual and reproductive health and rights and age-appropriate sexual education.
• Highlighting the need for access to treatment and to affordable medicine as a human right.
• Emphasizing women’s and girls’ empowerment, including reducing gender based violence.
• Eliminating AIDS-related stigma and discrimination including modifying punitive laws.

Dr Greene also used this opportunity to discuss the ‘Every Caribbean Woman, Every Caribbean Child Initiative’ (ECWECC) – the regionally specific programme of work that emerged directly from the United Nations Secretary-General’s ‘Every Woman, Every Child’ flagship programme. ECWECC aims to enhance the health, well-being and empowerment of women, girls and adolescents through:

• Eliminating gender-based violence.
• Reducing the rates of teenage pregnancies.
• Preventing cervical cancer.
• Reducing people trafficking, with special reference to girls.
• Making the Caribbean the first region in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Read more about the PANCAP Justice for All Initiative here.

Over the last 6 years, Belize has participated in the Caribbean Regional Testing Day initiative led by the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP). In 2017, the region celebrated the 10th anniversary of Regional HIV Testing Day (RTD), with a goal of reaching 100,000 people tested throughout the Caribbean over the 10 years of the initiative. RTD has, to date, tested some 90,807 people and is on track to meet the UNAIDS targets which lead to ending AIDS by 2030.

The National AIDS Commission (NAC) Belize, as a part of this Public Private Partnership; in collaboration with Scotiabank, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Belize Telemedia Ltd. joined PANCAP and twenty other countries in the region to observe Regional Testing Day (RTD) on Friday, June 30th, 2017; under the theme: #knowurstatus! This year the NAC expanded the reach of the programme by utilising eight testing sites.

The NAC launched a social media campaign utilising local celebrities, partners, media personalities and community activists to engage in a simple but effective message, ‘Get Tested, Know Your Status!’

In addition, the NAC in collaboration with MOH engaged the Police Department, Coast Guard and Fire Departments nationwide in the regionally recognised and awarded best-practice “On-site Testing Programme”. This programme, which ran from May 19th to June 26th, was designed to take the testing directly to these organisations to accommodate their busy schedules.

Belize continues to be a lead entity in the region in the promotion and implementation of this event. Nationwide 32,635 HIV tests were done in 2016, with the general scale up in services, and a reduction in the total number of new infections; Belize has seen an HIV prevalence rate of 1.2%, the lowest in years.

Regional Testing Day is a Caribbean initiative spearheaded under the guidance of PANCAP with key sponsorship from Scotiabank and support from LIVE Up: The Caribbean Media Alliance. This year Belize recognised Regional Testing Day under the theme: RU + UR- #knowurstatus!

Visit the NAC (Belize) website here.

Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr the Honourable Timothy Harris met with the 42nd President of the USA, President Bill Clinton, at the Clinton Global Foundation in New York on July 24. Prime Minister Harris was in New York for a forum geared at promoting partnership for expanding health care to ‘Every Caribbean Woman, Every Caribbean Child’.

President Clinton was a special guest at the event. Also present were the Most Honourable Mrs Juliet Holness, First Lady of Jamaica, Her Excellency Mrs Sandra Granger, First Lady of The Co-operative Republic of Guyana, as well as representatives from several women groups including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

In the meeting with Prime Minister Harris and President Clinton, the two statesmen discussed the success of the Clinton Global Initiative.

President Clinton, who founded the Clinton Foundation, later established the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in 2005 to bring together world leaders, business executives, and philanthropists as well as non-governmental organisations to effect positive change.

Prime Minister Harris, in his capacity of CARICOM’s lead Head on human resources, health and HIV/AIDS, also discussed with President Clinton the progress of the region in eliminating the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Cuba was the first country to totally eliminate transmission of HIV from mother to child.

St. Kitts and Nevis is on the path to receiving the World Health Organization (WHO) certification as the first English-speaking country to achieve the elimination of transmission of HIV from mother to child and congenital syphilis.

Prime Minister Harris exchanged views on violence in the region, the need for the US government to do more to curtail the shipment of illegal arms to the region and the spike in gun-related violence that has occurred as a consequence of such shipments. President Clinton promises to help the region in mobilising the support of its neighbour, the USA.

Other issues of bilateral concern between the Caribbean region and the United States were also discussed.

Prime Minister Harris is accompanied by the Honourable Senator Wendy Phipps, Minister of State within the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender Affairs and Social Services, and Ms Ghislaine Williams from the Permanent Mission of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations.

UNAIDS has released its annual flagship report, showing that the Caribbean could reach the testing and treatment targets that will put it on course to end its AIDS epidemic if it accelerates its response. According to Ending AIDS: progress towards the 90-90-90 targets, in order to speed up progress the region must improve strategies to ensure more people living with HIV are diagnosed and that there are higher levels of viral suppression among those on treatment.

“The region has achieved remarkable progress in expanding HIV services,” said UNAIDS Regional Support Team Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Dr César Núñez. “We need to continue work to ensure that we leave no one behind.”

The report gives a detailed analysis of progress and challenges toward achieving the benchmarks set to help the world achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. These targets are for 90% of all people living with HIV to know their status, 90% of diagnosed people to access sustained antiretroviral treatment and 90% of all people accessing treatment to achieve viral suppression by 2020.

Caribbean on track to reach treatment coverage target

The Caribbean has achieved strong progress related to getting people living with HIV on treatment and reducing deaths due to AIDS, but gaps remain. In the region four of five (81%) people living with HIV who know their status are accessing antiretroviral therapy. This means the region as a whole is doing a fairly good job at starting people on treatment following diagnosis. Haiti is the only country in the region to have achieved the second target–at least 90% of diagnosed people on treatment.

HIV treatment coverage has contributed to a 52% decline in AIDS-related deaths in the Caribbean over the last decade. Another positive note is that the scale has tipped and more than half of all people (52%) living with HIV in the region are on antiretroviral therapy. However, there is still a significant proportion of people (48%) not yet accessing treatment.

Region lagging behind on testing and viral suppression

Of concern is the fact that the region is lagging behind on HIV testing and viral suppression. Progress must be accelerated for the Caribbean to achieve the 90-90-90 targets that will set it on course to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

One-third of people (36%) living with HIV in the Caribbean are not aware of their HIV status. Community-centred strategies are urgently needed to reach those who have not yet been diagnosed.

The Caribbean must also improve efforts to keep people in care once they’ve started treatment and to ensure that treatment is successful. Only about half of people accessing antiretroviral therapy in the Caribbean had access to routine viral load testing. In 2016 one-third (33%) of those on treatment were not virally suppressed. (“Viral suppression” means that people living with HIV have been treated to lower the level of HIV in their blood to undetectable levels. This protects their health while preventing transmission of the virus). Notably, several countries are getting closer to reaching the target. Three of four people on treatment achieved viral suppression in Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Dr Nunez emphasised that “community health workers and civil society are critical to securing early HIV diagnosis and successful treatment”. The report called for greater community involvement in Caribbean health-care provision in order to reach the 90-90-90 targets.

To view the full report click here.

Updated data here.

Ms Elizabeth Lloyd, Head of Monitoring and Evaluation, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and Ms Patricia Smith-Cummings, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist are conducting a mission with support from the PANCAP Global Fund Grant to review and adopt existing regional reporting forms to standardize regional reporting for the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework (CRSF) and to provide technical assistance for the capture of data for the CRSF indicators.

Read more about the CRSF here and visit the CARPHA website here.

Director of PANCAP, Mr Dereck Springer and UNAIDS Advisor Dr Edward Greene held a special engagement with the Honourable Duane Sands, Minister of Health, The Bahamas. The Minister and Senior officials of the Ministry of Health were briefed on the outcomes of the July 2017 UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, the Every Caribbean Woman, Every Caribbean Child Initiative and PANCAP’s regional priorities including the ‘Justice for All’ initiative and support to countries for operationalising their programmes to meet the UNAIDS 90-90-90 Targets.

For more updates on high-level advocacy by PANCAP, visit the Media Centre here.

The Third Meeting of the PANCAP Advisory Group on Resource Mobilisation was held from 11 – 12 July 2017 at the CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown Guyana. In attendance were Mr Dereck Springer, Director of PANCAP, Dr Edward Greene, Advisor, UNAIDS, Mr Desmond John, Director, Resource Mobilisation and Technical Assistance (RMTA), CARICOM Secretariat, Ms Carol Ayoung, Representative, Pan Caribbean Business Coalition (PCBC), Ms Lisa Tarantino, Southern & Eastern Caribbean Regional Programme Manager, Health Finance & Governance Project and Dr Eduard Beck, Senior Advisor Strategic Information and Policy, UNAIDS.

The following are the key decisions and next steps identified by the working group:

1. The group decided that there should be a revision of the 2014 Resource Mobilisation Strategy to align with current financial realities.

2. Members agreed to develop an operating plan for the resource mobilisation strategy.

3. The group also agreed to pursue activities proposed by the Twenty-Fifth Executive Board that are still relevant.

4. A decision was made to commence actively engaging with the private sector to leverage both financial and technical support for HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean.

5. The group also agreed to seek a meeting with private sector leaders at the Regional Private Sector Meeting.

6. The meeting concluded with a consensus on creating a framework for deeper collaboration on common interests and understanding with the private sector.

Stay updated on this and other PANCAP events and meetings on the ‘Events’ page. Click here to view now.

The redesigned PANCAP website was officially launched on Friday, July 7, 2017, at the CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown Guyana. The website is meant to significantly enhance knowledge sharing among PANCAP members, development partners and other stakeholders. Here are the top 5 reasons to make the website your first choice for information and data on HIV and AIDS in the region:

1. The Data and Reports page offers concise information on HIV statistics from countries within the region garnered from trusted sources including UNAIDS and CARPHA. Click here.

2. The Document Library offers users the ability to upload their original case studies, strategies, best practices and other policy documents for dissemination to the entire Partnership. Only PANCAP members and partners will be allowed to upload documents by signing in with their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google accounts. Click here to upload your best practice or case study now.

3. PANCAP Voices is a series of specially created podcasts which feature audio clips and quotes from a diverse selection of PANCAP members on topics related to ‘Treat All’ and other HIV discussions. The concise audio clips offer just the right amount of information and inspired thinking to aid NAP Managers, clinicians and civil society leaders with their work implementation. Click here to listen now.

4. The webinars page highlights current and upcoming webinars by the PANCAP Coordinating Unit. If you missed a webinar simply click on the topic to access the powerpoint presentation and a video of the entire webinar. Click here to view PANCAP webinars now.

5. The PANCAP ‘Treat All’ Knowledge Suite is a significant feature of the redesigned website launched on Friday, July 21. The Knowledge Suite consists of three (3) products designed to guide National AIDS Programme Managers, clinicians and other technical experts with the implementation of an effective ‘Treat All’ programme. It consists of 1) a Standard Roadmap for the Implementation of ‘Treat All’, which offers guidance on the fundamental steps for effective incorporation of ‘Treat All’ into a country’s HIV and AIDS response. 2) The second product is the Barbados ‘Treat All’ Case Study, another tool for the implementation of ‘Treat All’. This provides the Partnership with a clear and concise illustration of the process utilised by the Government of Barbados, through the Ministry of Health, in the implementation of the successful Barbados ‘Treat All’ programme.

It was vital for the PANCAP Coordinating Unit to document the Barbados experience and share it with the Partnership since it is a best practice within the Region.

3) The third and final product is an animated video illustration, which highlights the effective actions required for the implementation of ‘Treat All’ and offers background information on the process. Click here for the Knowledge Suite.

PANCAP members are urged to make the redesigned website their homepage as new updates will be posted daily.