ST.GEORGE’S, Grenada, June 15th 2011 - Grenada’s Prime Minister, Hon. Tillman Thomas said Wednesday, his administration is committed to “revitalizing our push towards universal access to AIDS prevention, testing, treatment, care and support in order to meet our goals and targets.” However the Prime Minister has pointed to the need to identify sources of funding to build on the foundation that already has been laid.
Speaking from New York, where he recently attended the 2011 United Nations High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS under the theme, Unite for Universal Access, the Prime Minister said although the global response to HIV /AIDS is showing some results, there is a need for a renewed focus on financing the campaign against the epidemic.
Prime Minister Thomas said leaders attending the UN meeting, which was called to evaluate the progress made in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS after 30 years, have found that despite the accomplishments, the global epidemic continues to grow faster than “our response to it”.
“It is my hope that the meeting at the level of Heads of States that was facilitated by the United Nations will refocus attention on the steps needed to strengthen the fight against HIV/AIDS. We also need to identify how we can fund programmes that will impact and curb the disease, which can have a devastating effect on our countries, as it affects many persons who are in the prime of their productive years,” the Prime Minister commented from New York on Wednesday.
He noted that Grenada has made notable progress in meeting the six-point programme of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, which calls for, among other things, eliminating HIV transmission from mother to child, keeping mothers alive and improving the health of women, children and families.
“We have achieved noticeable results in reducing mother to child transmission, and civil society and people living with HIV are involved more than ever in decision-making and planning for the AIDS response. Despite these achievements there is no room for complacency,” the Prime Minister stated.
He agreed with the Secretary General’s position that the global response to AIDS is facing “a moment of truth.” The Grenadian leader called for “bold, decisive actions” to “dramatically reshape the response and achieve the UNAIDS vision of zero new infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths.”
The Prime Minister reiterated that Grenada is willing to play its part in the global movement “that can and will make AIDS a thing of the past.”
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