Update

Jamaica to boost progress in the region against HIV

14 April 2014

On 9 April a high-level delegation of international partners involved in the response to HIV met with the Jamaican Prime Minister, the Most Honourable Portia Simpson Miller, to discuss the country’s role in accelerating the Caribbean’s efforts to end stigma and discrimination and reduce new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths.

The visiting delegation included the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Denzil Douglas; the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy on HIV for the Caribbean, Edward Greene; UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Luiz Loures; and the Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Mark Dybul.

The issue of the importance of full respect for human rights was discussed, as was the need to collaborate with other countries on innovative approaches to strengthen HIV responses. The challenges regarding the balance of financial responsibility between Caribbean countries and international partners for sustaining HIV responses was also high on the agenda.

The Global Fund reiterated its role as part of a worldwide partnership to support countries in responding to HIV and announced a US$ 10 million grant to Jamaica to support its continued efforts in HIV prevention, treatment and care.

UNAIDS offered to facilitate an exchange of ideas between the African Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on the principles of shared responsibility and global solidarity to propel efforts toward ending AIDS.

Quotes

"Jamaica is working with all sectors, and paying specific attention to the vulnerable and the poor, to lift the masses in the post-2015 agenda, and to keep the people hopeful."

Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Most Honourable Portia Simpson Miller

"We have the knowledge and the tools to combat HIV but we have big pockets of people being left behind."

UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Luiz Loures

"The Justice for All programme provides a space for dialogue and advancing the human rights agenda for the HIV response. In the process we can work to ensure that those who are recognised as being vulnerable can get justice and equality in Caribbean societies."

St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Denzil Douglas