In the Caribbean, at least 270,000 people are estimated to be living with HIV. Of the 120,000 people who currently need treatment, only 50 per cent have access to it.
Research has provided new data about the effectiveness of HIV treatment and other strategies in treating and preventing HIV infection, and as a result is now realistic to hope that we can ultimately end HIV.
However, a global recession, economic austerity, and political impediments are placing constraints on funding throughout the region.
The future course of the HIV epidemic in the Caribbean depends on sustainable funding to achieve scale-up of HIV prevention, treatment, care, support, and protection of the human rights of all key affected populations.
At the event, panellists explored innovative approaches and developed an agenda for sustaining funding for community-driven solutions to HIV in the region.
The conveners of the panel discussion were Caribbean Treatment Action Group (CTAG), Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA), GBCHealth and International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC).
The three other panellists who took part in the late Sunday afternoon discussion were Miguel Bustos, Senior Program Manager for the Americas at the Levi Strauss Foundation; Olive Edwards, as Greater Involvement of People with AIDS (GIPA) facilitator with the Jamaica Network of Seropositives (JN+), a Community Based Organization; and Dr. Ernest Massiah, Director of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for the Caribbean.
The Prime Minister along with the Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour Cornelius De Weever, are currently in The Bahamas attending the 2011 Caribbean HIV Conference.
The conference is being held under the theme, "Strengthening Evidence to Achieve Sustainable Action," and is the third Caribbean HIV Conference in the past decade.
The Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Health travelled with a policy advisor from their cabinets along with representatives from the local HIV/AIDS programme management team and coordinators, Non-Governmental Organizations, the private and medical sectors, as well as research and community representatives.
The conference opened on November 18 with more than 2,000 individuals from across the region in attendance, and will conclude on November 22.
