Calls for increased domestic financing of HIV response in the Caribbean
THE EXECUTIVE director of Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), Ivan Cruickshank, is supporting the call by Nicolette Henry, minister of education, Republic of Guyana, and chair, PANCAP regional coordinating for increased domestic financing of the HIV response in the region.
Cruickshank’s support came during a recent joint regional dialogue with faith leaders, parliamentarians, civil society leaders, national AIDS programme managers and youth leaders meeting in Trinidad and Tobago.
The regional dialogue was hosted by the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), the mechanism that provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic.
The meeting came two years ahead of the 2020 deadline for reaching the 90-90-90 targets – 90 per cent of people living with HIV diagnosed, 90 per cent of diagnosed people on treatment, and 90 per cent of those on treatment virally suppressed.
STAKEHOLDERS’ COLLABORATION CRITICAL
According to Henry, “If we are to ensure sustainability of the regional response and for ending AIDS, many countries in the region have to do more to make AIDS and health a financial priority.”
She also noted that “sustainability is not just about resources. It is also about ensuring that our responses are the most effective, based on science and epidemiology, and targeting those most in need. Sustainability is also about partnership.”
Cruickshank viewed the minister’s comments as timely and pointed that, “Given the shift in international funding support across the region, it is critical that stakeholders collaborate to support HIV programmes across the region.”
He also said, “It is important that partnerships be built, and these should include not only government and CSOs but also faith-based actors.”