NAS to move ‘From Research To Action’

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is now in an even better position to plan and programme strategically for HIV/AIDS.

This is due to the findings of a Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BSS) conducted in six OECS countries including St. Vincent and the Grenadines.{{more}}

The findings of the survey were officially released recently, during a three-day workshop entitled: “From Research To Action” which was held in Grenada July 3 to July 5.’ The survey was initiated by the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) and the Pan American Health Organisation PAHO and World Health Organisation-WHO. The purpose of the Grenada workshop was to encourage each country’s representatives to take ownership of the data and acknowledge their responsibility to use these to guide their planning, using innovative, realistic and feasible approaches.

In his presentation to the workshop, head of CAREC’s Special Programme on Sexually Transmitted Infections (SPSTI), Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, underscored the need to move from research to action, and urged the country representatives to carefully review the findings and their implications. He noted that the lessons from the study indicate among other things a continuing gap between knowledge

and actual behaviour, that the vulnerability of young people is more than assumed and that condom usage was far from sufficient.

The National AIDS Secretariat (NAS), intends to disseminate the St. Vincent and the Grenadines survey findings on a national level and incorporate these into its national communication and other HIV/AIDS programme strategy.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ delegation to the Grenada workshop included Director of NAS, Dr Del Hamilton, Communication Consultant Theresa Daniel, Chief Education Officer Susan Dougan, Director of Youth Services Carlos Williams, Community Advocate Odinger Louie and CARICOM Youth Ambassador, Kyle De Freitas.