The Pan-Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) will convene a meeting of Caribbean delegates from government and civil society to cement a position for the region during the United Nations High-Level Meeting (UNHLM) on Ending AIDS, which will be held from June 8 to June 10 at the United Nations General Assembly, in New York.
According to a press release from the Caricom Secretariat, PANCAP has convened a Breakfast Meeting on June 8 to brief Caribbean delegates from Government and Civil Society in order to ensure a consolidated regional position for the Caribbean side during the plenary sessions and side meetings of the UNHLM, which will primarily focus on the response to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It added that the PANCAP meeting takes place at the UN Delegates Dining Room, West Terrace, and United Nations Headquarters and will be co-chaired by St Kitts and Nevis Minister of State with responsibility for Health Wendy Phipps and Caricom Secretariat Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development Dr Douglas Slater.
It noted that through the collaborative efforts of Caricom-PANCAP, the Caribbean has seen significant achievements, including the sharpest regional reduction in HIV incidence by 48.1%, from 27,000 in 2000 to 13,000 in 2014; declining AIDS-related deaths by 49%, from 18,000 deaths in 2000 to 8,800 deaths in 2014; antiretroviral coverage increased to 44% from less than 5% of the eligible population in 2001; and eligibility for Antiretroviral Therapy with a CD4 threshold for treatment initiation of 500 cells/mm3 or less for adults, adolescents and older children.
It added that the efforts also saw Cuba become the first country in the world to achieve elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in 2015, with 10 others in the region poised to achieve elimination by July this year.
PANCAP, the release said, believes that for the Caribbean to protect and sustain these gains, Caricom member states must join the rest of the world at the UNHLM to work together on a strong political declaration. “One that will create the conditions needed, including continued
funding, to “Fast-Track” actions and end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Failure to mobilise the funds required to end AIDS will result in a reversal of the gains of the last 10 years. People who require treatment will not have access to lifesaving antiretroviral drugs and people who need to know their HIV status will not have access to testing. The Caribbean Region must therefore work collectively to protect and sustain our gains,” the release added.
At the last UNHLM in 2011, world leaders set an ambitious treatment target of 15 million people accessing antiretroviral therapy by the end of 2015, the release said. It noted that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced last year that this had been achieved and surpassed, with nearly 16 million people accessing antiretroviral therapy by mid-2015, which was double the number in 2011.
The release noted that the UNHLM, in emphasising the importance of accelerating the response to HIV over the next five years to set the world on course to end the epidemic by 2013, has identified five panel themes. They are: AIDS within the SDGs: Leveraging the end of AIDS for social transformation and sustainable development; Financing the end of AIDS: The window of opportunity; Getting ahead of the looming treatment crisis: An action agenda for getting to 90-90-90; Leaving no one behind: Ending stigma and discrimination through social justice and inclusive societies; Children, adolescent girls, and young women: Preventing new HIV infections.
According to the Caricom release, UNAIDS contends that adopting the “Fast-Track focus on location and population, and reallocating resources to where they are most needed will ensure that the people most affected by HIV have access to life-changing HIV prevention and treatment services.” Additionally, it said Fast-Track Targets achieved on time would ensure that “the estimated total resource needs would begin to fall by 2021.”
Without these front-loaded investments, the release posited, the world risks prolonging the epidemic indefinitely.
Speakers at the PANCAP meeting will include St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Timothy Sylvester Harris, who is also the lead Caricom Head with responsibility for Human Resource Development, Health and HIV and AIDS; Dr J Carolyn Gomes, Executive Director, Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) and Civil Society Representative; and Dereck Springer, Director, of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit.
PANCAP is a regional partnership of governments, regional civil society organisations, regional institutions and organisations, bilateral and multilateral agencies and contributing donor partners that was established in 2001. It provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic and coordinates the response through the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS to maximise efficient use of resources and increase impact, mobilise resources and build capacity of partners.
