BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Federation’s Political Leader, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris, has informed that the country is on track in achieving its goal of eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
When that is completed, St. Kitts and Nevis would be the first country in the OCES, CARICOM and the Americas to fully eliminate the transmission, Dr. Harris told a news conference yesterday (Aug.2).
With a platform laid by the previous government and health officials, the Federation is currently on stream to have that done but more work still needs to be carried out.
Updating the nation on his recent travels, Dr. Harris, who is the lead in the Quasi CARICOM Cabinet with responsibility for HIV, Health and Human Resource, stated that this would be the most significant achievement, though there are still some work and tests to be finalized.
Dr. Harris, who recently attended several meetings in the United States including holding discussions with former United States President, Bill Clinton, said that with such information being shared publicly in a setting like that, speaks to the confidence with which the authorities have in respect to mother-to-child transmission of HIV in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“It doesn’t mean that all is well or perfect in our fight and battle with respect to HIV and other health issues, but it means that on this particular indicator we are top of the class and we hope that this preliminary finding will in fact come to fruition very shortly. And so this acclaim, noteworthy as it is, could be another important one for the people of St. Kitts and Nevis to enjoy.”
According to Dr. Harris, he and those who accompanied him to the US, met with personnel of the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative and they sought support their for the CARICOM region to advance the development of health care.
The Federation is not only affected by mother-to-child transmission of HIV, but also the increasing problem of Non-Communicable Diseases which is the leading cause of death in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Health officials, including PM Harris, have been calling on citizens and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis to take their health seriously and to change their diets in order to live longer.
In a recent interview with SKNVibes, the Public Relations Officer of the St. Kitts Diabetes Association, Dr. Reginald O’Loughlin, had disclosed that he is seeing increasing cases of the ailment popping up at his office.
Similar sentiments were echoed by a number of other medical practitioners, whether it be Diabetes or Hypertension, or some other form of NCD.
On his trip to the United States, Dr. Harris, who was accompanied by the Junior Minister of Health, Hon. Wendy Phipps, also met with a number of donor agencies.
