[vimeo http://vimeo.com/74353543 w=900&h=600]
HIV is a chronic and manageable illness. This is a key message for HIV/AIDS prevention education and awareness campaigns - because stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV, as well as reluctance to get tested, can be rooted in fears of getting sick, and ultimately, dying. Living with HIV may not be easy, but it is no longer a death sentence. With access to treatment, people living with HIV can live a long and healthy life.
However, the availability of treatment for HIV - in the form of antiretroviral drugs - is not a given. Not every country has the infrastructure or resources to implement a comprehensive HIV control programme, and regardless of the availability of antiretrovirals, social, cultural, and economic factors may impact the ability of individuals to access treatment and stay healthy.
In the Caribbean, there is growing concern about the capacity of countries in the region to maintain and build on successes in curbing HIV incidence and AIDS-related mortality. At a recent meeting in Kingston, Jamaica hosted by UNAIDS Caribbean and the United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, it was noted that:
Jamaica is one of the countries that has benefited greatly from international support - most notably from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which granted the National HIV/STI Progamme millions of dollars to scale-up public access to antiretroviral treatment, voluntary counselling and testing, and prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programmes, since 2004 .
Jamaica is also one of the countries that is very concerned about the sustainability of its HIV programme - since it has been re-classified as an upper- middle-income country, and will be unable to rely on support from the Global Fund support going forward.
The Director of USAID in Jamaica explained: "that the partnerships of international agencies are meant to help countries reach a point where their HIV programmes are “led, implemented and eventually paid for” by their own governments, communities, civil society and private sectors.
In response, Jamaica's Health Minister countered that "while we are willing to take country ownership of the programme, we are saying to our partners that we are not fully there yet and still require some level of assistance. Jamaica has made some excellent gains in our National HIV programme but we now face significant resource constraints.”
So while donor agencies and country governments alike look to the long-term, hopefully neither will allow for lapses in funding to affect people living with HIV in the Caribbean.
It’s about people! It is about keeping people living with HIV well so that they can be productive and creating societies that allow them to thrive.
- Director of the UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team, Ernest Massiah
HIV is a chronic and manageable illness. This is a key message for HIV/AIDS prevention education and awareness campaigns - because stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV, as well as reluctance to get tested, can be rooted in fears of getting sick, and ultimately, dying. Living with HIV may not be easy, but it is no longer a death sentence. With access to treatment, people living with HIV can live a long and healthy life.
However, the availability of treatment for HIV - in the form of antiretroviral drugs - is not a given. Not every country has the infrastructure or resources to implement a comprehensive HIV control programme, and regardless of the availability of antiretrovirals, social, cultural, and economic factors may impact the ability of individuals to access treatment and stay healthy.
In the Caribbean, there is growing concern about the capacity of countries in the region to maintain and build on successes in curbing HIV incidence and AIDS-related mortality. At a recent meeting in Kingston, Jamaica hosted by UNAIDS Caribbean and the United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, it was noted that:
"Currently two-thirds of the financing for HIV programmes in the Caribbean as a whole comes from international partners. With several donor agencies soon to reduce or withdraw support due to changes in eligibility criteria for upper- and middle-income countries, and with Caribbean economies feeling the crunch of the global economic slowdown, the gains of many national HIV programmes are at risk"
Jamaica is one of the countries that has benefited greatly from international support - most notably from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which granted the National HIV/STI Progamme millions of dollars to scale-up public access to antiretroviral treatment, voluntary counselling and testing, and prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programmes, since 2004 .
Jamaica is also one of the countries that is very concerned about the sustainability of its HIV programme - since it has been re-classified as an upper- middle-income country, and will be unable to rely on support from the Global Fund support going forward.
The Director of USAID in Jamaica explained: "that the partnerships of international agencies are meant to help countries reach a point where their HIV programmes are “led, implemented and eventually paid for” by their own governments, communities, civil society and private sectors.
In response, Jamaica's Health Minister countered that "while we are willing to take country ownership of the programme, we are saying to our partners that we are not fully there yet and still require some level of assistance. Jamaica has made some excellent gains in our National HIV programme but we now face significant resource constraints.”
So while donor agencies and country governments alike look to the long-term, hopefully neither will allow for lapses in funding to affect people living with HIV in the Caribbean.
It’s about people! It is about keeping people living with HIV well so that they can be productive and creating societies that allow them to thrive.
- Director of the UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team, Ernest Massiah
