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Region’s response to HIV/AIDS shows a mixed score card

Dec 01, 2009 News

– Carrington

As Guyana joins the rest of the world in observing World AIDS Day today, Secretary-General of CARICOM, Edwin Carrington noted that an assessment of the region’s response to HIV/AIDS indicates a mixed score card.
In his World AIDS Day message to the media, Carrington noted that the 2009 HIV/AIDS update by UNAIDS and WHO revealed that between 2001 and 2008, there has been a 9 per cent increase in the rate of HIV infections in the Caribbean.
According to the Secretary-General, this shows also that the rate of infection is increasing among women and the other at-risk groups continue to be men who have sex with men and commercial sex workers.
“The call for more research into the role of bi-sexuality in the transmission of HIV and the reduction of stigma and discrimination cannot be overemphasized. It is for this reason that the recent establishment of the PANCAP Stigma and Discrimination Unit as part of the regional response to research and policy is an important first step that must be complemented by the work of our universities and other policy centers,” Carrington said.
He noted that the establishment and sustainability of PANCAP attests to the continued political leadership in the Caribbean in responding to this epidemic.
However, he reiterated that much more needs to be done.
In this regard, Carrington explained that CARICOM and its Secretariat continue to support institutional strengthening and to emphasise the fundamental rights of persons with HIV & AIDS.
In acknowledging that the response to the epidemic must be a multi-sectoral one, the Secretariat will continue to mainstream HIV and AIDS in its work programmes of health, education, youth and culture and advocate for behavior change.
“We call for strengthening the role of the community of persons with HIV and AIDS in the decision making process and for placing even more emphasis on the role of strategic information and communication in the overall objective to reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS.”
CARICOM committed to placing human rights and universal access to prevention, care and treatment at the centre of the response against HIV and AIDS.
This year, WORLD AIDS Day is being observed under the theme, ‘Human Rights and Universal Access.’
Given the circumstances, Carrington noted that the fight against HIV and AIDS calls for strengthening the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) and consolidating the integral linkages between the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework that guides the activities of PANCAP and the various national HIV and AIDS programmes.

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