Funding for HIV/AIDS to decrease by 2015, says Williams

The amount of funding that this country is receiving from international bodies for the fight against HIV/AIDS will decrease by 2015, despite that fact that close to 700 persons here are reported to have the disease.{{more}}

So says Basil Williams, the Executive Director of the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Alliance (CHAA), who informed local media that up to fifty per cent of the money received by the OECS and Caribbean region will be cut, since the region has been reclassified as a middle income country in relation to funding from the global fund.

“The global fund is the main provider of funding to HIV globally,” Williams explained.

“The global fund has recently made a decision to reclassify some countries and that they would only be funding low income countries. All of the islands of the OECS have now been classified as middle income countries, which means by 2015 the amount of money coming to the region will significantly reduce.”

Williams pointed out that the ‘upgrade’ given to the region does not mean that the HIV incidence has reduced, since here in St Vincent alone there had been 695 reported cases of HIV.

“The reclassification of St Vincent and the Grenadines doesn’t move those people; they are still going to need access to support, access to services, access to treatment, but that will be done in a reduction of funding environment.”

“So, the challenge for the region is to figure out how does it continue to maintain its prevention efforts, and how does it continue to access people most at risk of HIV, in a climate where there is reducing funding, but also, how do we do this within an environment of one immense stigma and discrimination and in some cases homophobia.”

Ways to tackles this drop in funding, stigma and discrimination, and other challenges, were among the topics discussed when officials of CHAA, as well as the International HIV/AIDS Alliance (IHAA), met with Minister of Health Clayton Burgin, health officials, and other stakeholders about one month ago, here in St Vincent.

According to Williams, the parties looked at ways to bring about a more coordinated response to HIV in the country, and to have an OECS integrated approach in dealing with the funding for the disease, so that assistance would be consistent.

“We also discussed where CHAA in St Vincent could work with the National AIDS Program in facilitating response. We already do that but how we can improve that and strengthen that in terms of capacity building and extending the service into the Grenadines.”

CHAA was established here in St Vincent in 2008, with its main function being to work with the most at risk population.

Its duties include risk assessment, referrals for HIV testing, as well as counselling.

The organization operates in the OECS, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.(JJ)