The Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) last week concluded its Fifth meeting of National AIDS Programme (NAP) Managers and Key partners with a call for civil society to be more involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
According to a PANCAP press statement, the three-day meeting, which ran from March 6 to March 8 at the Office of the Parliament, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, revolved around the theme ‘Strengthening the HIV Response’ and ended with an urgent call to include more civil society organizations (CSOs) in programme implementation and for an increased emphasis on behavioural change strategies, particularly focused on men.
It added that Gardenia Destang-Richards, NAPS manager for the Ministry of Health of St Kitts and Nevis and NAP Managers Representative on PANCAP Governance Bodies, called for NAP Managers, Permanent Secretaries and other policy makers to intensify efforts to include members of CSOs at all levels on HIV and AIDS programme planning and implementation.
According to the release, Destang-Richardson, in her address, stated that CSOs have their finger on the pulse of the key populations in rural areas where exposure to media and HIV and AIDS education is limited, and that it is also the CSOs that drive the message and prevent many new infections through public awareness activities and advocacy. As a result, she argued that NAP Managers need their input at all levels when it comes to planning strategies in relation to the End AIDS by 2020 campaign.
She said that they provide pivotal insight and inform unique approaches to bringing key messages to their populations. She challenged every NAP Manager, permanent secretary and chief medical officer at the meeting to advocate for inclusion of CSOs at all levels, including policy development, moving forward.
The statement said that that during Destang-Richardson’s closing remarks, she received consensus from participants on the next steps towards strengthening the HIV and Aids response in the Caribbean. These include recalibrating messages being used to educate the public on HIV and AIDS to focus on creating behaviour change; focusing on men and boys to influence more sexual responsibility within society; and leveraging the policy making influence of permanent secretaries and chief medical officers and including CSOs at all levels of HIV and AIDS programme implementation.
According to the statement, participant Kinesha Thom, representative of the Caribbean Sex Work Coalition (CSWC), made an appeal for policymakers and donor partners to create new avenues for involvement of CSOs. She noted that they deserve recognition as the pathway through which most of the HIV and AIDs awareness is received by key populations, hence they are integral to formulating programmes related to HIV and AIDS, especially if the plan is to increase efforts to create behavioural change.
Meanwhile, echoing the challenge issued at the opening ceremony on Monday by Terrence Deyalsingh, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Health, Director of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit Dereck Springer challenged all participants to rethink public education on HIV and AIDS to focus more on behaviour change strategies that will significantly cause members of key populations to exercise more responsibility with their sexual behaviour, the statement added. “We have to concentrate on our boys and men when we conceptualize prevention messages,” he was quoted as saying. “They have a tremendous influence on sexual behaviour in society and we must leverage this influence and channel it in a positive way,” he added.
The meeting, which was funded by the Global Fund and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), hosted over 70 NAP managers, selected chief medical officers and permanent secretaries, as well as representatives of civil society organizations, and regional and development partners.
