Ramsammy bemoans poor leadership of Region’s Parliamentarians on HIV initiative

Sep 18, 2009 News

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Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has expressed his disappointment about the poor leadership being displayed by the Caribbean Members of Parliament, including those in Guyana, as it relates to the initiative of ‘Know Your HIV Status.’
During the 13th Ordinary Meeting of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism (RCM) of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), which officially commenced yesterday at the CARICOM Secretariat, Minister Ramsammy asserted that politicians need to lead the process.
“In this respect I continue to bemoan the poor leadership being shown by Members of Parliaments in our Region. We, politicians, must lead the public response to ‘Know Your HIV Status’. We must do so now.”
In this regard, the Health Minister noted that PANCAP must play a leading role in catalyzing a movement of political, business, religious, sports and entertainment leaders to publicly participate in the ‘Know Your HIV Status’ campaign.
“We need the Usain Bolts, the Chris Gayles, the Shivnarine Chanderpauls, etc. to be aggressive proponents of ‘Know Your Status.’”
Dr. Ramsammy acknowledged that the Caribbean has been slow in reversing some barriers that were established towards greater access to HIV testing. He explained that rapid testing algorithms, initially rejected in many countries, are strategy options to increase accessibility towards HIV diagnosis.
“It irritates me that we are still hesitant in many jurisdictions to implement rapid testing algorithms as a means of improving testing capacities in our countries. We have made impressive gains in the prevention of transmission to children through their mothers.”
The Health Minister also reiterated the call for the stigma and discrimination against women to come to a stop, as he noted that mothers should never be seen as vectors. Meanwhile, he also noted that the region has not done a good job in terms of recognizing the role that alcohol plays in the spread of HIV.
According to, Dr. Ramsammy, alcohol has been an underestimated driver of the HIV epidemic in many countries.
“The time has come for concerted action to address the role of alcohol in the transmission of HIV and in the creation of vulnerability of our people. I will again place myself in harm’s way. But I need not be timid. I am the Minister of Health and I must be driven by public health reality, not by moral judgment.”
As it relates to personal freedom, the Health Minister said that it is something which needs to be acknowledged within the realm of reasonableness and legislative dicta.
Taking this into consideration, he said that sex between consenting adults, even if it is adults of the same gender, in private, falls into the category of personal freedom.
But according to Ramsammy, the laws are in contradiction of this expression of personal freedom. “I recognize the difficulties that government face because we must take into consideration the views of our citizens before we make adjustment to our traditional laws. PANCAP must play a role in the regional conversation to address the anomaly. There has been a silence because we are shy of offending important stakeholders. But such silence has not helped us in our fight against HIV. Far from it, such silence has been deadly and has shattered too many dreams. Such silence is simply reprehensible,” Minister Ramsammy said.
While outlining the many challenges, Ramsammy pointed out that the mobilization of resources to fight against HIV/AIDS is now under threat as the financial and economic situation, globally, is providing the basis for excuses to reduce the financial investment being made to fight against HIV and AIDS.
However, according to the Health Minister, this must not be seen as a deterrent, as he stressed the need for more investment in the fight against HIV. The PANCAP meeting, which concludes today, is under the Chairmanship of the Hon. John Fabien, Minister of Health, Dominica and Chairman of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism.
The meeting will receive reports on the status of programmes and projects being implemented by PANCAP as well as the ongoing re-organisation of PANCAP Coordinating Unit (PCU). Discussions at the meeting will focus on the movement towards a constitution for PANCAP, while the issue of resource mobilization remains high on the agenda. Initiatives on the Global Fund and the Second Phase of the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will also be discussed.
The RCM is the Executive Board of PANCAP and its responsibilities include providing policy guidance on the effective management and operation of the partnership and approving and directing all PANCAP projects.
PANCAP, established in 2001, is the regional mechanism responsible for coordinating the Caribbean’s response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

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