New HIV/AIDS behaviour change intervention strategy

St.Vincent and the Grenadines has a new National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan to manage this country’s multisectoral response to the disease over the period 2010-2014.{{more}}

Dr. Del Hamilton, Director of the National AIDS Secretariat, told SEARCHLIGHT Midweek on Sunday evening the comprehensive strategic plan is for the care, management and treatment of the disease.

The new plan seeks to further strengthen the care, treatment and support programme and calls for the decentralization of HIV/AIDS services here.

Hamilton said the plan was also designed to address the issue of stigmatization by integrating the above mentioned initiatives into other services that cater for chronic non-communicable diseases.

“The new strategic plan is more for the changing of behaviour. A lot of people are aware of HIV, how it is spread, how to prevent themselves from becoming infected, but the practicing of that, is what is really a challenge now.

“So we need to have more of a behaviour change intervention strategy going forward, not just distributing material and hoping that that would change behaviour,” Hamilton said.

The new plan is expected to cost EC$31 million over a period of five years. Policy development and legislation are set to cost EC$1,462,599; Multi-sectoral involvement and decentralization, EC$7,938,419; Prevention services, EC$10,047,900; Care, treatment and support services, EC$5,154,373; Strategic information, M&E and research, EC$3,189,060 and Programme management EC$3,233,086.

The programme is expected to be financed with resources from the Government and funds generated from fund raising activities with development partners and the private sector. Some of the development partners will include the Global Fund, PANCAP and the OECS.

“We have come a long way, but of course we still have quite a way to go in terms of preventing HIV,” said Hamilton.

Hamilton disclosed that there was the need to develop a new strategic plan because the previous one which covered the period 2004 to 2009 had ended.

She added other factors influenced the decision to create the new plan such as the need for a resource mobilization tool and further guidance of the National HIV/AIDS Secretariat’s programme.

The vision she said: “Is to substantially reduce the spread and impact of HIV in St.Vincent and the Grenadines through sustainable systems of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, and empowerment of the population to prevent HIV infection.”

She noted that with this new plan, her secretariat, in conjunction with other health departments, will be working towards reducing the estimated number of HIV infections by 30 per cent by 2014. She added another goal is to reduce mortality due to HIV by 30 per cent by 2014.

Hamilton stated that St.Vincent and the Grenadines was one of the first OECS countries to start care and treatment with the introduction of the anti-retroviral drug in August 2003, even before funding came from the Global Fund and other organizations.

“In terms of summing up our care and treatment services, I would say that we have been able to really establish this programme in St.Vincent and the Grenadines over the last strategic plan period.”

Highlighting another success, Hamilton mentioned the prevention of mother to child transmission programme.

“Over the last couple years, all the babies that were born to HIV positive women were negative,” she disclosed.

“In this strategic plan…we definitely will continue the provision of services for the prevention of mother to child transmissions of HIV.We also want to strengthen our prevention effort among people living with HIV,” said Hamilton, noting the plan will help to empower people to know their status early and prevent the further spread of the disease.

Hamilton said the HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plan 2010-2014 was prepared through an interactive and participatory process managed by the National AIDS Secretariat. It was prepared with contributions of five technical subcommittees, involving about 50 persons representing all sectors: public, private, civil society, men who have sex with men (MSM) and people living with HIV (PLHIV).

The strategic plan identified the main drivers of HIV/AIDS in St.Vincent and the Grenadines among the youth as; teenagers who engage in risky situations with regard to HIV infection and youth who engage in transactional sex (both sexes).

The second group identified as ‘most at risk’ for HIV is MSM (gay or heterosexual). This was followed by PLHIV through the risk of reinfection and transmission of the disease to their sexual partners.

In St.Vincent and the Grenadines, the male to female ratio of HIV has, over the past 20 years, been decreasing from a high of 4.5:1 in 1987 to 1.4:1 in 2008.