Maho:--- Dignitaries from across the Caribbean region gathered in the Royal Islander room at Maho Sonesta on Sunday evening for the official opening of the 10th annual general meeting of PANCAP. Several dignitaries that were expected to attend the meeting could not make it due to the passing of hurricane Thomas.
Speakers include Prime Minister of St Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams, the honorable Prime Minister of St Kitts Denzil Douglas, Mr. Michel Sidibe, Professor Michel Kazatchkine, and H.E Carrington the general secretary of the Caribbean Community with keynote speaker Kofi Annan.
Annan the former general secretary of the United Nations is known for his work and dedication in the fight against HIV/ AIDS. In his keynote address he urged nations to be more proactive in their fight against HIV/ AIDS and felt there is urgent need to fight against discrimination and stigma of the disease. Annan said while the PANCAP is a model for others to follow they were crucial in mobilizing a broad and effective regional response towards the disease, while their work has helped the prevention of tens of thousands of new HIV infections and have saved thousands of lives.
However, he made clear despite the accomplishments there is no room for complacency in the region since too many people are still getting infected and too many lives are being lost to the epidemic. He felt that discrimination, including the flouting of the most basic widespread human rights, is still widespread for those living with HIV/AIDS.
"While there have been real progress across the board, five more people still contract the virus for every two who start treatment." Annan said despite the efforts of PANCAP the Caribbean region has not been spared since they face the greatest challenge with the exception of the sub-Saharan African region.
There is an estimated 240,000 people live today with HIV in the Caribbean twenty thousand more are newly infected each year. The former UN General Secretary renewed his call for global common strategy to fight the disease with the underlying need for greater prevention and access to better treatment, gender equality and to put an end to discrimination to stem the tide of the epidemic. He said there is a greater need to build stronger partnerships between the stakeholders and government, including multilateral agencies, donors, philanthropic organizations and pharmaceutical companies, to defeat this scourge.
Annan said the infection rate has dropped by 17% worldwide since 2001 with over 5 million lives saved because of its financing of programmes. He considered the global fund to be one of the greatest success stories in the past decade. With the work of the PANCAP and the expansion of the antiretroviral treatment the annual number of deaths related to HIV/AIDS has dropped by 40% since 2000.
While PANCAP has identified the need for more approach in the fight against HIV/AIDS one, that involves greater participation of the private sector, vulnerable groups and NGOs.
Annan said women and girls are particularly at risk since too many women suffer from sexual abuse or they feel unable to insist on protected sex. AIDS he said is the number one killer of women of childbearing age. There is a need to empower women to speak up and to protect themselves and children, which can only be achieved through gender equality and enforce the discriminatory laws and cultural traditions. A known fact is that sexual minorities, drug users, and people infected by HIV/AIDS suffer from daily discrimination and prejudices discouraging them from seeking help and treatment.
In this region, as with many other places there remains widespread homophobia and violence against gay men. This is he said is not just a breach of their human rights but, by making it more likely they will engage in high-risk behavior, it impedes the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Punitive laws and policies that stigmatize particular individuals and block effective HIV/AIDS strategies must be rolled-back.
Below is the full audio of the opening ceremony.
