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Prioritise rights to increase access to HIV services in the Caribbean-UNAIDS

Feb 13, 2025 News

Kaieteur News-With 100,000 people living with HIV not accessing life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART), UNAIDS is urging Caribbean leaders to prioritise rights and diagnose, enroll, and retain more people in care.

In a press release UNAIDS noted that there has been steady progress to put more of the 340,000 people living with HIV in care and on treatment, but the pace is concerningly slow.

In the Caribbean, only seven in every ten people living with HIV are on treatment and only six in every ten are virally suppressed. Additionally, with one in every three cases of HIV identified at the stage of advanced HIV disease (AIDS), late diagnosis remains a significant challenge in the region.

Noting that stigma and discrimination, harmful laws and policies and operational issues are among the plethora of challenges that keep people living with HIV away from health services, UNAIDS calls on health officials to work closely with communities to close the gaps. Therefore, as the region prepares to commemorate World AIDS Day on December 1, under the theme Take the Rights Path, it is important governments recognise that without urgent attention to these critical areas, the Caribbean will not achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.3 to end the AIDS epidemic.

“I urge Governments and all stakeholders to embrace the Rights Path. Let us dismantle barriers, promote innovative health solutions, and sustain investments in resilient health systems. Together, through collective action and a commitment to human rights, we can achieve an HIV-free Caribbean,” said Dr Richard Amenyah, UNAIDS Caribbean Director.

UNAIDS firmly believes the Caribbean can end the AIDS epidemic if leaders revolutionize and scale up prevention and treatment access, as well as protect and promote the rights of everyone living with and at risk of HIV.  “Health is a human right. Protecting human rights is therefore non-negotiable in the fight against HIV. Laws and policies must be aligned with public health goals and must foster inclusion rather than exclusion. Self-stigma and fear of discrimination or disclosure of HIV status, prevent people from seeking HIV services, which results in late start of treatment or being lost to follow up and retention on treatment. Caribbean Governments must tackle discrimination that continues to deter people from accessing HIV testing, treatment, and care,’’ Amenyah said.

(Prioritise rights to increase access to HIV services in the Caribbean-UNAIDS)

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