Latest update November 8th, 2024 1:00 AM
Latest News
Canada supporting local HIV/AIDS fight
— Efforts directed to development of HIV vaccine
Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. Nicole Giles
Guyana’s fight against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has over the years been attracting immense international support. While Guyana is currently looking to fund its own efforts with dwindling support, it has been able to benefit from significant support from the United States President Emergency Plan for AIDS Reduction (PEPFAR) and Global Fund.
But according to Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. Nicole Giles, there has also been sustained support to fight HIV/AIDS from Canadian companies.
Dr. Giles disclosed that Canada-based companies such as Scotia Bank, The Guyana Lottery Company, and Guyana Goldfields Inc., among others, have been strong supporters of the national programme to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in Guyana.
“I am therefore proud to acknowledge the leadership roles that Canadian companies are playing in combating this pandemic in Guyana, and to mitigating its effects,” declared the Canadian High Commissioner.
Her remarks were forthcoming as she addressed a gathering Friday evening at the Guyana Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS Annual Awards ceremony which was venued at the Pegasus Hotel.
Dr. Giles in her deliberations disclosed too, that Canada has over the years been able to embrace moves to make the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDs a key component of its international development system. This approach was adopted, she noted, since “we recognise the seriousness of the pandemic and its impact on sustainable economic development, good governance and most of all, the peoples and families around this world.”
She went on to explain that Canada, through its health programmes and the G8 and Muskoka initiative on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, has been partnering and giving support to countries to deliver integrated and comprehensive health services to women and children. This, she disclosed, has included HIV testing and counselling even as much support is also directed towards preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Canada, the High Commissioner disclosed, is also working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative to develop an affordable and globally accessible HIV vaccine.
The Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, Dr. Giles said, is part of Canada’s contribution to the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, a five-year enterprise which is a collaborative initiative between the Government of Canada, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and represents a significant Canadian contribution towards global efforts.
The Government of Canada, according to Dr. Giles, is also supporting the development of a HIV vaccine by advancing basic science, developing regulations and building the capacity for conducting clinical trials in low and middle income countries.
However, she noted that an important part of Canada’s efforts to improve maternal and child health is to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission.
While global statistics suggest that there has been a decline in the rate of mother-to-child infection, Dr. Giles insisted that “between 15 and 45 per cent of children born to HIV positive women become infected with the virus during pregnancy, delivery or breast feeding.”
Moreover, she emphasised that among the interventions to prevent mother-to-children transmission of HIV must include access to antiretroviral drugs for both mother and child, even as she underscored the need for measures to prevent women from getting HIV in the first place. In fact, Dr. Giles informed, that the aim is to reduce the transmission rate to less than five per cent.
In its HIV/AIDS fight too, Canada has been directing keen efforts towards the elimination of new HIV infection among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive, an initiative that is geared at intensifying global targets of reducing HIV infections. “This support is helping many countries around the world to meet the Millennium Development Goals which targets halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015,” said Dr. Giles.
She moreover, amplified that Canada has been and continues to be “at the forefront of the global response to HIV/AIDS and recognises the need to increase efforts to achieve universal access to HIV prevention measures, treatment and care.”
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
A lesson from the bread lines of America
…Peeping Tom Kaieteur News- If the American elections of 2024 delivered any one lesson to the rest of the world, it... more
Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Weekend Cartoon
