St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and CARICOM lead Head for Human Resources, Health and HIV/AIDS, Dr. Denzil Douglas has endorsed the complementary roles of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP).
Prime Minister Douglas also fully supports the planning and organisation of national consultations on the Accelerated Human Rights Agenda to eliminate stigma and discrimination to be held throughout the Caribbean on World AIDS Day 2012, said a press release from the Office of the Prime Minister, Saint Christopher and Nevis.
The St. Kitts and Nevis leader in wrapping up a meeting in his office on Wednesday afternoon with Dr. Edward Greene, theUnited Nations Secretary General Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean and Juliette Bynoe Sutherland, Director of PANCAP’s Coordinating Unit at the CARICOM Secretariat, said “the establishment of CARPHA marks the fulfillment of the final element of the Nassau declaration 2001 which identified the Caribbean Cooperation on Health and PANCAP as its two pillars.”
Dr. Douglas went on to say that “CARPHA’s emphasis on the public health response including NCDs and HIV means that PANCAP can concentrate on the human rights issues that involve programmes to address behaviour change, enhanced access to prevention, care and treatment for at-risk populations and highlight social justice for vulnerable groups.”
