Innovative approaches to fighting HIV/AIDS to be addressed

Mar 09, 2018 News

– as PANCAP hosts Sixth HIV/AIDS Meeting

Assessing where the Region is in terms of fast-tracking a regional response to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus [HIV], will be atop of the agenda when the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS [PANCAP] hosts the Sixth Meeting of National AIDS Programme [NAP] Managers and Key Partners in Trinidad and Tobago next week.
PANCAP is the mechanism that provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic. Moreover, participants will include over 70 National AIDS Programme Managers, Chief Medical Officers, Permanent Secretaries, Development and Regional Partners, and Implementing Partners such as Civil Society Organizations that work with people living with HIV and Key Population groups, including youths.
As a result, the meeting, which will span March 12 – 14, 2018, is a forum designed to focus on issues such as the integration of HIV services for sustainability of the HIV response and the progress and challenges towards achievement of the 90-90-90 targets.

Ms Gardenia Destang-Richardson

The 90-90-90 targets speak to 90 percent of all people living with HIV knowing their HIV status by 2020; 90 percent all people with diagnosed HIV infection receiving sustained anti-retroviral therapy, and 90 percent of all people receiving anti-retroviral therapy having viral suppression.
According to information released by PANCAP yesterday, Ms Gardenia Destang-Richardson, National AIDS Programme Manager, Ministry of Health Saint Kitts and Nevis and the National AIDS Programme Manager and Representative on the PANCAP Governance Bodies said, “the meeting will provide a forum for assessing where we are in fast tracking the regional HIV response. Participants will discuss innovative approaches for increasing testing, including country efforts to pilot self-testing and country experiences implementing Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) as part of combination prevention, as well as retaining people living with HIV in treatment and care.”
Destang-Richardson further explained that there would be opportunities to examine integration as a key regional strategy for ending AIDS and dialogue on the need for accurate, up to date and credible data on the HIV epidemic to guide the response in the Region.
In recognition of the crucial need for countries to prepare for transition and sustainability, she also highlighted that the meeting will seek to strengthen participants’ knowledge and skills on private sector resource mobilization strategies.
Participants will also be updated on the support being provided by development and regional partners to assist countries to operationalize their programmes for fast-tracking their response.
Additionally, NAP Managers and Key Partners will be updated on the synergies among the three regional Global Fund projects in creating an enabling environment for increasing access to sexual and reproductive health and HIV services for people living with HIV and key populations.
The expected outcomes of the meeting include an agreement on approaches for integration as a key strategy for sustainability; strategies for sustaining HIV prevention, treatment and care services; summary of the gaps in the regional response and remaining challenges to achieving the 90-90-90 targets and support needed to address each of the three targets; achievements of the regional Global Fund grants to date; increased awareness of partners contributions to the targets of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS [CRSF]; lessons learned from transition and sustainability exercise and Key policy issues for presentation to the Ministers of Health Council for Human and Social Development [COHSOD] in September 2018.
Even as she stressed the importance of the meeting’s outcomes to the HIV response, Destang-Richardson said, “As donor funding declines, countries need to plan for how they will transition away from external funding to increased domestic funding of their HIV response. I hope that we can effectively utilize this forum to create a roadmap for the next stage of the region’s response to HIV.”

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