Great Bay:---St. Maarten has been selected as the location of the tenth Annual General Meeting of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) in October 2010. This was a unanimous decision taken by the membership during the close of the recently concluded 9th Annual General Meeting held in St. Georges Grenada on October 29 & 30.
According to HIV/AIDS Programme Manager Suzette Moses-Burton, “This is a tremendous opportunity, which took some lobbying on the part of the Dutch territories present at the meeting. The PANCAP AGM is one the largest and highest level regional HIV/AIDS meetings held annually. It brings together all the key stakeholders working in HIV in the region, including heads of Governments, ministers, international donors, regional agencies, national programme managers, members of civil society and the community of people living with HIV as well as non-governmental, community- and faith-based organisations. This year’s meeting had over 160 persons representing the various members of the partnership and it is expected that next year’s meeting will draw even more participation as it marks the 10th anniversary of the partnership. We felt that it would be an opportune moment for St. Maarten to be given the chance to host this meeting, as October 10, 2010 will also mark a historic occasion for our island, the achievement of country status, and what better way to demonstrate our pride in such an achievement than by welcoming and hosting delegates from the region and the world who come together to discuss the region’s collective response to halt the spread of the HIV epidemic. This will also be a significant boost for our tourism product and we intend the work closely with the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau in the planning of this event. As one of the most active members of the partnership it also gives us the unique opportunity to expose the rest of the region to the peculiarities of the epidemic being faced by the Dutch territories. I am very pleased and proud that St. Maarten has been selected as the venue for such an auspicious and important event. We plan to make this the best ever PANCAP AGM.”
