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Date Posted: Friday 18 April, 2008

HIV/AIDS: Prime Minister says time for action is now!

By Pauline Waruguru
Nevis Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Ms Jane Armstrong of UK funding agency DFID and Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - ST. KITTS AND NEVIS Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas is calling on stakeholders to intensify existing efforts and act urgently to reduce the burden HIV/AIDS continues to place on the region.

“In a region as small as the Caribbean, there were more than 17 000 new HIV infections in 2007 and in excess of 11 000 deaths from AIDS, and the projection is that life expectancy at birth would have declined by as much as nine to 10 years in some countries by 2010, attributable to the disease,” Dr. Douglas said.

He said the grim statistics should propel urgent action to enable the Caribbean region to achieve universal access within the shortest time frame.

Dr. Douglas made these pronouncements yesterday as the Feature Speaker at the Opening Ceremony of the 10th Meeting of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) held at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel and Casino.

He said there was the inescapable need for urgent action, given the burden of the epidemic in the region. “The time for action is now!” said Dr. Douglas, who is the Caribbean’s lead spokesperson on HIV/AIDS.

“Mr. Chairman, let us be clear, it is no gimmick when it is stated that the Caribbean remains the most heavily HIV-infected region of the world behind Sub-Saharan Africa. The region must not be allowed to forget that its HIV prevalence rate is one and a half times that of the global average, twice that of North America and Eastern Europe, and more than five-fold that of Western and Central Europe,” he said.

Shortly before the Prime Minister gave the Feature address, Mr. Carl Browne, Director PANCAP Coordinating Unit, had showered the Dr. Douglas with praises for being instrumental in the establishment of PANCAP during the first General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS) meeting held in New York in 2001.

Browne said the Prime Minister had also lobbied the five big pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARVS) at a time when was US$20 000 to treat a person living with HIV/AIDS during the International HIV/AIDS Conference held in 2002 in Barcelona, and in 2006 during the UNGASS meeting. Dr. Douglas had predicted that the Caribbean would achieve universal access by 2010 while a cross section of other countries put their target as 2020.

Browne said the Prime Minister had supported PANCAP efforts to fight HIV/AIDS consistently for the past 10 yours. “You can now tell us whatever you want to tell us,” Browne said amidst applause.

“Chairman, in less than three months from now on June 10-11, 2008, I will again have the signal honour of leading the Caribbean delegation to the Third High-Level United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS in New York. As I did on the two previous occasions of the summit, I will again have the opportunity to articulate the regional position on critical policy and programmatic measures that must be adopted by governments and international partners as we battle the exploding the AIDS epidemic. “

The Prime Minister said he was pleased to note that as many as 24 countries within PANCAP had completed their national assessment and progress reports that would be consolidated for submission to the Assembly.to turn the tide of the epidemic in the region.

“Indeed, these were the painful realities that propelled the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community to establish PANCAP in February 2001, as a vehicle for providing the most effective regional response to the epidemic.

“The wisdom of this decision has been demonstrated by the phenomenal successes recorded over the seven short years of existence. For instance, it is a matter of public record that even while still in its fledgling stage, PANCAP won the acclamation of UNAIDS as an ‘International Best Practice’ and the experiment has been replicated in many other regions of the world, as far away as Central Asia.

“The Report on the Multi-Organisation Review of HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean conducted in 2005, under the auspices of PAHO/WHO, UNAIDS, World Bank and CARICOM, concluded that an effective regional response must be the centre piece of the attack on HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean and endorsed PANCAP as “the single most critical regional body to fulfill this role”.

“Meanwhile, the 2006 landmark Report of the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development described PANCAP as ‘a promising example of a multi-agency, multi-level collaboration in the search for a common ground to fight the epidemic’.

“I cite these comments from these independent sources only to situate the central role of PANCAP in the Caribbean regional dynamic against HIV and AIDS and to emphasise the inescapable responsibility of all stakeholders in ensuring its effectiveness, stability and sustainability.

“PANCAP cannot afford to rest on its laurels and it cannot be found guilty of complacency. The gains of yesterday must be used as the springboard for even greater successes tomorrow as the region seeks to roll back the epidemic.

“I am very pleased to learn that the Final Draft of a new Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS has been developed that will provide strategic direction to PANCAP during the period 2008-2012. This is a quantum leap forward for PANCAP and I urge the Regional Coordinating Mechanism to move quickly to adopt it and to ensure its aggressive implementation,” Dr. Douglas concluded.