Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - July 3, 2008
Jacqueline Charles, jcharles@MiamiHerald.com
St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas said he plans to ask the Caribbean Community to contribute toward a $50 million stepped-up initiative to fight HIV/AIDS in the region over the next five years.
"Given . . . the devastation and how HIV/AIDS can in fact prevent the continued development of the Caribbean people, I am sure that my governments will understand," he said as he headed into a meeting where the issue, along with other concerns from rising prices to energy costs to interdictions, will be addressed.
Douglas, a physician with responsibility for health matters in the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) regional bloc, said the funds are needed if the region hopes to further its progress in the prevention, treatment, care and support for persons living with the disease by the year 2010.
"We know that discrimination and stigmatization among people who have HIV/AIDS is still a bother to us," he said.
After sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean region has the second highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world. Still, it has made considerable progress in reducing mother-to-child transmission and new infections and increasing the percentage of people living longer with the disease.
The region has done this through the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS, which was recently cited as an international model because of its regional approach and success. But to continue that, Douglas said, funds are needed.
He plans, he said, to also tap other sources of funding, including the U.N. Global Fund and other donors like the U.S. government. But in the case of the United States, for instance, Douglas acknowledged that it was scaling back on some of its funding.
Recently, members of the U.S. House gave the region a boost by expanding HIV/AIDS funding through a global fund to include other Caribbean nations besides Haiti and Guyana. But the $50 million global HIV/AIDS reauthorization bill, known as the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief or PEPFAR, has been held up in Congress by some Republicans who have vowed to block it.
On Wednesday, Bush urged members of Congress to pass the legislation.
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