NASSAU, The Bahamas — Greater effort must be made to sustain HIV programmes within the Caribbean in areas such as prevention, care and treatment if regional countries are to meet three key UNAID/WHO goals, Minister of Health Dr. the Hon. Hubert A. Minnis told regional healthcare officials.
Addressing the Launch of the Caribbean HIV Conference, Dr. Minnis said while The Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean have made “great progress” in moving the HIV Response forward, those countries cannot afford to become complacent as a number of challenges still remain.
“One such challenge is sustainability of current HIV/AIDS programmes within the Caribbean,” Dr. Minnis said. “Efforts must be made to sustain HIV Programmes in the region in all aspects – in prevention, in care and in treatment.
“We must not become complacent if we want to achieve the UNAID/WHO goals of zero new HIV Infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths,” Dr. Minnis added.
Dr. Minnis said another challenge facing regional HIV/AIDS leaders is the establishment of a sustained mentorship programme in an attempt to “Pass the Baton” and engage new leaders in the field.
“Many of the stalwarts in this fight are approaching retirement age,” he said. “There needs to be a sustained programme of mentorship and hand-over to younger people who will bring new ideas and renewed energy to this fight.
“We need to increase capacity building not only in the area of treatment and care, but also in intervention and care,” he added.
The Health Minister said the effort to sustain the programmes will require the commitment of both regional governments and its citizens. He said the Government of The Bahamas has been actively supporting the fight against HIV/AIDS since the 1980s and is proud of its national success in the care and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS.
“A disease like AIDS has many victims and we are proud that our National AIDS Programme has made strides in HIV Care – especially in the area of Mother-to-child transmission,” Dr. Minnis said.
“The year 2010 had no reported cases of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (and) the prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) remains a best practice in The Bahamas.”
Dr. Minnis said it was his anticipation that the Caribbean HIV Conference would assist in improving regional responses to HIV through the application of research, knowledge and “the lessons learnt from collaboration” and good practices throughout the Caribbean.
“This Conference will help us to enhance our regional efforts to work collectively towards preventing the spread of HIV and mitigating the impact of HIV on the health, social and economic status of the region,” Dr. Minnis added.
By Matt Maura
Bahamas Information Services
