Ministry of Health and Haynes Smith Youth Club Join Forces to Fight HIV/AIDS
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Chairman, Mr. Antonio Maynard accepting cheque from Ms. Gardenia Destang as Mr. Elvis Newton, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health looks on
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Basseterre, St. Kitts: The Ministry of Health through its National AIDS Secretariat has teamed up with the Haynes Smith Youth Club to fight HIV/AIDS. This is to be achieved through the provision of partial sponsorship, EC$10,500.00 for the Miss Caribbean Teen Talent Pageant, one of the premier events for the 2007-08 St Kitts and Nevis National Carnival.
The sponsorship cheque was presented to Mr Antonio Maynard, Chairman of the organizing committee for this year’s pageant which is in its 29th year and has benefited a dynamic partnership forged some ten years ago between the National AIDS Secretariat and the Haynes Smith Youth Club, producers of this prestigious event which attracts the best of the region’s young talent. This year’ show will have representatives from 16 countries including host, St. Kitts and Nevis.
During a short handing over ceremony, Mr Antonio Maynard acknowledged the role of the pageant as an effective vehicle through which the participants sensitize hundreds of patrons about HIV/AIDS prevention and control. He explained that the youthful participants serve as role models for their peers and are therefore well placed to convey the various messages intended to promote adoption of healthy behaviours to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS.
He expressed satisfaction with the involvement of the National AIDS Secretariat and suggested that the partnership offered opportunities for further development of a synergistic relationship through which the messages to influence behaviour change can be pursued. Mr Maynard pledged his organization’s continued support and collaboration with the Ministry in its ongoing efforts to reduce HIV/AIDS in the Federation. ~~Adz:Right~~
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Elvis Newton, who was accompanied by Mrs. Gardenia Destang Richardson, National AIDS Programme Coordinator, explained that the sponsorship represented another component of the Ministry’s efforts to promote a truly expanded response to HIV/AIDS. He suggested that the sponsorship provided an opportunity for the non health sector to become more prominently involved in implementing activities as aspects of the Ministry’s efforts to stop HIV/AIDS.
“Very often,” Mr. Newton explained, “persons in our communities view HIV/AIDS as a health issue only because the Ministry continues to focus on provision of care, treatment and support.” According to Mr Newton, “the sponsorship is a deliberate attempt by the Ministry to encourage participation of persons with other perspectives-those who promote prevention, those who advise abstinence and or harm minimization through condom use.”
The Permanent Secretary further explained that the Ministry recognized the value of the Caribbean Teen Age Pageant to provide positive information and education to the contestants and to the many young persons who attend the show during the Carnival Season. He stressed the importance of providing quality information and education which he described as a social vaccine against HIV/AIDS which had no medical cure. Mr Newton identified the Haynes Smith Youth Club as a valued partner with which the Ministry has been working to promote its multi dimensional messages to prevent and or control HIV/AIDS.
Sponsorship of the event is one of the activities being undertaken by the National AIDS Secretariat as it continues to focus on Ministry’s 2007 World AIDS Campaign. Other activities include a ‘Whistle Stop’ covering several villages throughout St Kitts, a National Testing Day intended to promote routine testing by citizens and residents as well as distribution of information on December 28th with assistance from the various contestants in the 2007 Miss Caribbean Teen Talent Pageant.
