-Barbados CMO

Chief Medical Officer in Barbados, Dr Joy St. John  says  that while the Caribbean region has made significant progress in accessing HIV treatment, there is room for improvement as young women have infection rates that are significantly higher than males their own age.

Dr. St John was addressing the official opening of the 14th Ordinary Meeting of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism, Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) on Thursday  in Barbados.

She  said that in keeping with HIV epidemics that are generalized, overall women now account for approximately 50% of all new HIV infections and the potential effects on families are frighteningly clear, according to a copy of her address circulated by the CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen.

Perhaps the most important lesson that has been learned and applied in the national and regional response to HIV in the Caribbean over the past decade is the importance of developing and executing effective HIV prevention interventions, the Barbados CMO contended.

She said further that “while treatment, care and support remain important aspects in the response to HIV, reducing the number of new infections is required if we are going to control the epidemics in the region.”

“We must bolster the development and implementation of prevention campaigns targeting those deemed to be most at risk, including men in general, men who have sex with men, drug users, sex workers, migrant populations, prisoners and youth,” Dr St. John stated.

She also called for policy reform to complement the  prevention campaigns.

In this regard, the Barbados CMO added, the role of PANCAP is critical as a producer of regional public health goods and services, and must lead the way in developing evidence-based approaches to reaching the most vulnerable.

PANCAP, she emphasized,  has an obligation to the region to provide such scientific and culturally sensitive approaches to reach the marginalized youth whose behaviours place them at increased risk for HIV infection.

Dr St. John said that PANCAP must use its access with international partners to ensure that all of the innovation, especially within the context of financial constraints, reaches the key eyes and ears.

“The region’s successes,” she observed, “are in danger of graduating us from international assistance,” adding that “our advantage is in creating and refining new and different model approaches.”

The Barbados CMO also called for a closer nexus between regional and national planning and programming.

“Put bluntly, I would like to see more regular and active interface between the PANCAP Coordinating Unit, PANCAP Regional Support Partners and National AIDS Programmes so that national agendas also serve the regional context – harmonizing national and regional agendas.”

Dr St. John also maintained that PANCAP must continue to assist countries in bridging the technical assistance gaps that exist.

She concluded that PANCAP has the capacity to help countries find the key partners and initiatives to address their deficiencies.