BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AS health officials across the region continue to make strides in fighting the scourge of HIV/AIDS, concerns are being raised over the impact COVID-19 is having on the work being undertaken.
CARICOM’s Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque is sounding the alarm bells as the region joins the rest of the world in recognising today (Dec. 1) as World AIDS Day.
With this year’s Day being observed under the theme: “Global Solidarity, Shared Responsibility”, the SG indicated that though the Day is used to recognise the achievements made in dealing with the virus over the last several decades, attention should be placed on the challenges COVID-19 has brought to treating HIV/AIDS patients.
He noted that this year’s World AIDS Day is being observed in the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic and the challenges it has brought to everyone and it has disrupted essential systems for health, as well as programmes to address HIV and other global health priorities.
“Service disruptions associated with COVID-19 are impacting global, regional and national efforts to end the epidemic,” he noted.
The Caribbean region is one of the areas hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS virus in the Americas, with data from the UNFPA showing that there are over 500,000 people currently living with the ailment.
The COVID-19 pandemic, according to Ambassador LaRocque, is threatening access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care. A problem that was highlighted during a survey conducted by PANCAP and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), which found numerous disruptions in these areas among National Programmes in the region.
“Without strategies to meet these needs, we may see a resurgence of HIV that can threaten our public health response to COVID-19,” he added.
Against that backdrop, the Secretary-General added that “COVID-19 has demonstrated that during the pandemic, no one is safe until everyone is safe. Leaving people behind is not an option if we are to succeed. Therefore, the HIV response must be maintained and actions to respond to HIV must be accelerated.”
He added: “Eliminating stigma and discrimination, putting people at the center, and grounding our responses in human rights and gender-responsive approaches are crucial to ending the pandemic of COVID-19 and the epidemic of HIV/AIDS.”
