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The Caribbean Research Ethics Education Initiative (CREEii) invites applications to its Masters Degree Program in Bioethics and Research Ethics

Call for Applications 2021

Funded by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (Award # R25TW009731) CREEii invites applications for full scholarships to its Masters Degree Program in Bioethics and Research Ethics (MScB). The deadline to apply is Wednesday, 24 February 2021 (classes begin in May 2021).

The CREEii scholarship is available to citizens and residents of English and Spanish speaking countries that are listed by the World Bank as low through upper middle income, and who have attained at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. It is exclusive to our 2-year program delivered primarily online and asynchronously supplemented by intermittent synchronous sessions. It includes travel expenses to attend 2 intensive onsite courses of several days duration at partner institutions: the Autonomous University of Queretaro (Mexico) and St. George’s University (Grenada). An additional partner is the Bioethics Program at Clarkson University (USA) which awards the MScB degree to those who successfully complete the program. A commitment of 10-12 hours weekly across 2 years with short breaks for major holidays is required of those enrolled.

Eligible countries defined by World Bank data
Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Vincent, Surinam, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México and Nicaragua

The CREEii program is interdisciplinary and designed for those involved in health-related professions not limited to medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, information technology, academia, law, social sciences, psychology, the arts, and others. The curriculum emphasizes research and publication in bioethics in order to generate more regional bioethics and research ethics scholarship. The master’s thesis is central and is designed to foster research and writing skills through critical thinking about the design, conduct, analysis, and attempt to publish their research in a mainstream peer-reviewed journal. The MScB research encourages normative and analytical methods and the use of secondary data.

CREEii is regionally relevant and facilitates multicultural and multinational partnerships through bilingual translation and interpretation between Spanish and English. The program equips fellows to function as researchers, educators, policy advocates, and academics and includes a 10-week course in the responsible conduct of research (RCR). Applicants who are bilingual and positioned to integrate MScB education into their career, institution, or country will be prioritized.

How to Apply
To apply, submit the completed Application Form (Application Form English CREEi 2021) and an unofficial copy (screenshot acceptable) of your most recent transcript with your application by email (addresses indicated on the Application Form) by Wednesday, 24 February 2021. Those accepted to the program are required to submit an official copy of their most recent transcript upon acceptance. Additionally, applicants must request 3 letters of support including 1 from the home institution or employer on their official email address or official institutional letterhead.

For more information, please contact:

• English Professor CC Macpherson, PD/PI (WINDREF), Professor (SGU), Grenada ccox@sgu.edu and Mr Kareem Coomansingh, Program Coordinator (WINDREF), kcoomans@sgu.edu
• Spanish Hilda Romero Zepeda, site PI and Professor (UAQ), MX phd.hromero@gmail.com, and Dr José Salvador Arellano Rodríguez, site Coordinator and Professor (UAQ), MX jose_arellano28@yahoo.com.mx

21 January 2021 (Georgetown, Guyana)  This year, Guyana will roll out a comprehensive plan for Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Dr Frank Anthony, Minister of Health, Guyana announced that the national strategy would be implemented in collaboration with clinics across the country and nongovernmental organizations.

“We want to expand to ensure anyone who is at risk for HIV would have access,” Dr Anthony said. “We believe that with a comprehensive programme for PrEP we can prevent many infections.”

This move marks the culmination of years of advocacy and partial PrEP implementation. The existing PrEP policy is a programme for serodiscordant partners only, so couples in which just one person is living with HIV have been able to access PrEP through the public health-care system to avoid transmission to the HIV-negative partner.

Since 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that “people at substantial risk of HIV infection” should be offered PrEP. Several countries have prioritized key populations, including gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers and transgender people, for PrEP programming. In Guyana, those groups also have higher HIV prevalence: 8% for transgender women, 6% for sex workers and 5% for gay men and other men who have sex with men.

Last year, Guyana’s Society against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD Guyana) moved from calling for a more inclusive PrEP programme to offering the service itself. The group teamed with the Midway Specialty Care Centre to fill this gap in the country’s HIV prevention response.

“We want combination prevention to take the front burner,” said Joel Simpson, Managing Director, SASOD Guyana. Through this private sector/civil society partnership, for the first time, people in Guyana from any population group were able to elect to initiate PrEP. The medicine was sold to clients at cost price, and those accessing the service through the nongovernmental organizations paid no consultation fees.

A 2018 SASOD Guyana assessment of gay men and other men who have sex with men and transgender people supported by the International HIV and AIDS Alliance (now called Frontline AIDS) found that, when sensitized, there was a high level of interest in taking PrEP. However, just around 60% of focus group participants were willing to pay to do so.

“We need politicians and technical people to base decisions on science and research. At times we have encountered a moralistic approach to setting public policy,” Mr Simpson reflected. “It’s not about whether you belong to a particular population group. It’s about responding to reality and lowering risk.”

Guyana’s HIV programme results are among the Caribbean’s best. The country surpassed the 2020 testing target, with 94% of people living with HIV diagnosed in 2019. Seventy-three per cent of people who knew their status were on treatment. Of those, 87% were virally suppressed. Over the past 20 years, new HIV infections have been reduced by half in the South American nation.

“HIV treatment has come a long way, and not just for people living with HIV. To close the gaps and ensure that no one is left behind it is critical that best practices for prevention and treatment are implemented fully,” said Michel de Groulard, UNAIDS Country Director, a.i., for Guyana and Suriname. “This is why we are pleased about the direction the Health Ministry is taking this year to ensure that PrEP is made available to all who need it. We have the tools to end AIDS. Now we must use them.”

15 January 2021 (Georgetown, Guyana)  While the government’s recent announcement that Guyanese would be allowed to self-test for HIV has attracted criticism from stakeholders, the new Programme Manager of the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS), Dr Tariq Jagnarine believes it is a good thing for Guyanese.

In a recent interview with the News Room, Dr Jagnarine welcomed the announcement by Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, and used the opportunity to quell the fears of those involved in the domestic HIV and AIDS response.

He said self-testing has proven to be a best practice in many developed countries. He is confident that with the appropriate guidelines, it can work in Guyana as a majority contributor to helping the government reach its targets, among which, is ending AIDS by 2030.

“It is doable…before the programme is implemented, there will likely be a guided policy on how it will be rolled out and monitored,” Dr Jagnarine assured.

He acknowledged that Guyana has its own challenges with the remoteness of some regions. Still, He said that with proper Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), self-testing could be effectively done in Guyana.

Asked about the possibility of some persons testing positive and failing to report it to the authorities in keeping with the government’s push to not only have persons on treatment but to ensure viral suppression, Dr Jagnarine said self-testing would not be done in an isolated manner.

He said it would go hand-in-hand with all the other programmes at NAPS which will allow for proper tracking and monitoring of persons.

“It will be highly scrutinised and tracked…I personally wouldn’t want to see somebody tested and we missed them and can’t put then on ARVs,” he added.

The government has not said when self-testing would start in Guyana. The announcement to start self-testing coincides with the launch of a new National HIV Strategic Plan 2021- 2025.

With roughly 8,000 persons living with HIV in Guyana, statistics from the Health Ministry show that at the end of 2020, 90 per cent of those infected knew their status, while 72 per cent were on antiretroviral therapy and 75 per cent of those receiving antiretroviral therapy were virally suppressed.

GENEVA – In 2020, the Global Fund signed 157 grants for a total of US$8.54 billion for lifesaving HIV, Tuberculosis (TB) and malaria programs and to strengthen systems for health. This is the highest amount of grants ever signed in a single year by the Global Fund. The grants will begin implementation this month.

“This is an exceptional achievement that will help more than 100 countries continue the critical fight against HIV, TB and malaria – epidemics that kill more than 2.3 million people every year,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “As the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelms health systems around the world, it is now more important than ever that we ensure countries have the resources they need to fight HIV, TB and malaria and to strengthen the systems for health needed to respond to all four diseases.”

The Global Fund has a total of US$12.71 billion available in funding allocations for the three-year funding cycle that runs from 2020-2022. Of these funds, the Global Fund had planned for US$8.9 billion in grants to be approved in 2020, with the remaining funds scheduled for later start dates. However, the Secretariat accelerated its grant-making efforts and exceeded the original target, approving US$9.2 billion of funding in 2020. As of 31 December 2020, US$8.54 of the approved grants had been signed and begin implementation this month; two countries were still in the process of signing the remaining finalized grants worth US$660 million.

“Even in the midst of a new global pandemic, during an extraordinarily challenging year, the Global Fund partnership has supported countries to develop grants more quickly and effectively than ever before,” said Donald Kaberuka, Global Fund Board Chair. “A record-breaking 67% of grants for the 2020-2022 funding cycle have now been signed, compared to 50% of grants signed at the same time in the last funding cycle, representing a remarkable increase in performance.”

In comparison, at the same time in the 2017-2019 funding cycle, the Global Fund had signed US$5.2 billion in grants out of a US$10.3 billion funding allocation.

Over the past year, the Global Fund has supported implementing partners and Country Coordinating Mechanisms (the committee of local community, government and health experts that develop and guide Global Fund-supported programs in a country) to develop detailed funding requests for programs to respond to the epidemics at the country level. As part of the Global Fund’s grant-making process, all funding requests are reviewed by an independent Technical Review Panel and then by the Grant Approvals Committee for quality and comprehensiveness before going to the Global Fund Board for final approval. Once the Global Fund and the implementing partners sign the grant, implementation of programs can begin.

The Global Fund is extremely appreciative of the continued support of donors for its core funding, as pledges made at the record-breaking Replenishment Conference in Lyon in October 2019 are converted into cash contributions. Sustaining funding levels for the fight against HIV, TB and malaria is vital at a moment when disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic threaten to reverse many years of progress against the three diseases.

On top of the new grants awarded to fight HIV, TB and malaria, the Global Fund has approved US$980 million in additional funding to 106 low- and middle-income countries and 14 multicountry programs to respond to COVID-19 in 2020. The Global Fund has estimated that it needs a further US$5 billion on top of its core funding to support countries in responding to the pandemic by reinforcing national COVID-19 responses; mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on lifesaving HIV, TB and malaria programs; and making urgent improvements to health and community systems.

UNAIDS has called on countries to make far greater investments in global pandemic responses and adopt a new set of bold, ambitious but achievable HIV targets for 2025.

An analysis was performed focused on available studies that have quantitatively measured the negative impact of stigma and discrimination and the criminalization of sex work, drug use and same-sex sexual relationships on HIV prevention, testing and treatment efforts.

The analysis suggests that failure to make any progress on HIV-related stigma and discrimination would undermine efforts to reach the HIV testing, treatment and viral suppression targets, resulting in an additional 440 000 AIDS-related deaths between 2020 and 2030, and that failure to make any progress across all societal enablers would undermine efforts to reach HIV prevention targets, resulting in 2.6 million additional new HIV infections over the same period.

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On Tuesday, Guyana recommitted itself to the Global AIDS Strategy, which hopes to end AIDS by 2030, launching a new National HIV Strategic Plan 2021- 2025.

The new plan puts Guyana on track with global momentum but sets achievable benchmarks for the country and strengthens its national HIV and AIDS response.

By 2025, Guyana hopes to reduce new HIV infections among key populations and other vulnerable groups by 95 percent.

Also, by 2025 all babies are expected to be born free of HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), ending mother-to-child transmission.

Guyana wants to also reduce AIDS-related deaths by 95 percent within the next five years.

In the past seven years, the national fight against HIV and AIDS was guided by the National HIV Vision document, which came to an end last year.

During the virtual launch of the innovative and progressive plan to achieve epidemic control on Tuesday, Guyana also boasted being the first Caribbean country to achieve the First 90 of the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals.

This means that at the end of 2020, 90% of all People Living with HIV in Guyana knew their status.

Guyana falls short on the other two indicators where 72 percent of Guyanese with a diagnosed HIV infection are on antiretroviral therapy and 75 percent of those receiving antiretroviral therapy being virally suppressed.

Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony acknowledged these shortcomings with the ambitious treatment target of 90 percent needed to be achieved.

Dr Anthony said while Guyana aspires to end AIDS by 2030, there are many other targets along the way.

He said Guyana had set its own target of 95 percent on several key indicators by 2025.

“There is a lot of underlying work that needs to be done to ensure the targets are met. While we fix exiting problems, we have to look to improve other targets,” he said.

The Minister said the political will exists to introduce a more comprehensive program with PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis) – a medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent getting HIV.

Guyana had only been making this medication available to couples where one partner has tested positive for HIV.  Dr Anthony now says that the country intends to make it available for all citizens who are considered at risk.

The Minister said policies would be put in place to push self-testing among the population.

The new National HIV Strategic Plan was developed, revised and finalized through a process that included all stakeholders over the past year. It commenced in January 2020.

Acknowledging that there has been little change in the epidemic over the last five years with a small decline in 2018, Consultant Dereck Springer said there is now a strong political commitment and enabling environment to accelerate the national AIDS response.

He said that while there have been achievements, the response is still faced with numerous challenges that the new strategy addresses.

Springer said there continues to be dysfunctional coordination, high levels of stigma and discrimination and frequent stock-outs of medication.

These shortcomings, he says, will be addressed in the new plan.

(Via Demerara Waves, Georgetown, Guyana)  Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony on Tuesday announced that Guyanese would be allowed to self-test for HIV and that more at-risk persons would be given preventative drugs.

“Another area we want to look at is self-testing. This is relatively new, and it has been advocated around the world, and some countries have implemented it with relatively good success.  This is one of the measures we would like to put in place here in Guyana,” he said.

The Health Minister gave no specific time-frame by which self-testing would start in Guyana.

He made the announcement in an address to stakeholders at the launch of the HIV National Strategic Plan, which aims to bridge past achievements to end the disease by 2030. The Minister also disclosed that Guyana would be submitting a proposal to the Global Fund for support to fight the disease.

The Health Minister said a “more comprehensive” Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) programme would be rolled out this year to build on the programme introduced last year to target couples, one of whom is HIV positive and the other is not. “We want to take that further so that anybody at risk can access PrEP.  Next year we will see a better roll-out of PrEP to ensure that this is at all of our clinics.  We will work with all stakeholders to ensure that this is also available with the services they provide,” he said.

Dr Anthony said Guyana has been suffering from a lag in two of the three areas identified globally by UNAIDS for bringing the disease under control.  This included knowing one’s status, receiving Antiretroviral Therapy and suppressing the disease by 2020.

He said statistics show that 94 percent of HIV positive persons in Guyana know their status, 73 percent of them have been tested and on treatment and the virus has been suppressed in 75 percent of them.  In that regard, he remarked that “we still have a lot of work to be done over the next five years”.

The Health Minister noted that weaknesses in the fight against HIV included stock-outs of reagents that have adversely affected testing, treatment and care. He hoped that this could be remedied through proper quantification by clinical staff and procurement. “While we fix existing problems, we also have to look forward to how we can improve and also use new methodologies to ensure that we can get to those targets by 2025,” he said.

Dr Anthony said “more effective” antiretroviral therapies were being rolled out along with co-morbidities such as Tuberculosis to fight other sexually transmitted diseases, including the Human-Papilloma Virus that causes Cervical Cancer.