NASSAU, The Bahamas — Greater effort must be made to sustain HIV programmes within the Caribbean in areas such as prevention, care and treatment if regional countries are to meet three key UNAID\/WHO goals, Minister of Health Dr. the Hon. Hubert A. Minnis told regional healthcare officials.<\/p>\n
Addressing the Launch of the Caribbean HIV Conference, Dr. Minnis said while The Bahamas and the rest of the Caribbean have made \u201cgreat progress\u201d in moving the HIV Response forward, those countries cannot afford to become complacent as a number of challenges still remain.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne such challenge is sustainability of current HIV\/AIDS programmes within the Caribbean,\u201d Dr. Minnis said. \u201cEfforts must be made to sustain HIV Programmes in the region in all aspects \u2013 in prevention, in care and in treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must not become complacent if we want to achieve the UNAID\/WHO goals of zero new HIV Infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths,\u201d Dr. Minnis added.<\/p>\n
Dr. Minnis said another challenge facing regional HIV\/AIDS leaders is the establishment of a sustained mentorship programme in an attempt to \u201cPass the Baton\u201d and engage new leaders in the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of the stalwarts in this fight are approaching retirement age,\u201d he said. \u201cThere needs to be a sustained programme of mentorship and hand-over to younger people who will bring new ideas and renewed energy to this fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to increase capacity building not only in the area of treatment and care, but also in intervention and care,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Health Minister said the effort to sustain the programmes will require the commitment of both regional governments and its citizens. He said the Government of The Bahamas has been actively supporting the fight against HIV\/AIDS since the 1980s and is proud of its national success in the care and treatment of people living with HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
\u201cA disease like AIDS has many victims and we are proud that our National AIDS Programme has made strides in HIV Care \u2013 especially in the area of Mother-to-child transmission,\u201d Dr. Minnis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe year 2010 had no reported cases of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (and) the prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) remains a best practice in The Bahamas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Minnis said it was his anticipation that the Caribbean HIV Conference would assist in improving regional responses to HIV through the application of research, knowledge and \u201cthe lessons learnt from collaboration\u201d and good practices throughout the Caribbean.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Conference will help us to enhance our regional efforts to work collectively towards preventing the spread of HIV and mitigating the impact of HIV on the health, social and economic status of the region,\u201d Dr. Minnis added.<\/p>\n
By Matt Maura
\nBahamas Information Services<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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