Knocking Heads to address health matters of the vulnerable and marginalised

On Wednesday, June 11, Health experts across the region sat down with Government and Civil Society representatives to dialogue on building sustainable HIV responses in times of funding uncertainty. This forum followed the conduct of a Rapid assessment survey conducted jointly between March 27 and April 22 this year by the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and the Pan-Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and Aids (PANCAP). The assessment was done among some of the main organisations engaged in the provision of services to people living with HIV/AIDS and it revealed that there has been widespread disruptions to essential HIV prevention and testing services that are critical in maintaining the region’s progress towards ending AIDS. The results indicate that 80% of Caribbean service organisations are challenged to deliver HIV treatment, prevention and care- including community-led services that focus on the most marginalised and discriminated. These challenges have arisen as a result of a decision of the US Administration in January to freeze all funding for US Foreign Assistance, including the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) that has, over the years, provided significant funding for HIV/AIDS programmes in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

While some Latin American countries have been recording increases in the number of new infections UNAIDS data have shown that the Caribbean Region has done pretty well to stem the spread of new infections. Any reversal of this trend can be quite detrimental to those who are already living with HIV, and the on-going initiatives of regional governments, including that of St Vincent and the Grenadines, whose Health System may be further challenged. One has to look at the mental health fallout that may arise as a result of the cessation of vital HIV treatment and services.

It is therefore extremely important that the agencies in the region- CARPHA, PAHO, and the various Civil Society organisations that offer services in this area of health care come away from their dialogue with concrete strategies how they together will address the emerging problem of drastically reduced financing, and seek ways to continue the provision of the services that are so vital to that segment of the populations of the region. For, there was a time when contracting HIV/AIDS was a certain death sentence. However, over the years, governments globally, and certainly those in this region, with some activism from Civil Society groups, have ensured this is no longer the case. People living with HIV now have a better quality of life through the use anti-retrovirals, and other support services provided by the state and Civil Society Organisations. Sadly, the survey has found that only 25 percent of such organisations can sustain their services for two to six months without obtaining alternative funding. While the outcome of last week’s dialogue is not yet made public, it is hoped that the forum will have arrived at some positive outcomes to ensure sustainability in the HIV/AIDS services offered- a sufficiently significant, and productive segment of the population depends on this.