Tuesday, December 1 – Minister of Health and Social Development Honourable Dancia Penn, OBE, QC underscored the need to safeguard the human rights of persons living with HIV in her message for World AIDS Day.
She also recommitted her support for universal access to treatment, care, and support for persons with the disease in recognition of the Day’s theme, “Universal Access and Human Rights”.
As Minister of Health, Honourable Penn said she is in favour of universal access as one of the fundamental rights supported under the Virgin Islands Constitution. “The protection of human rights is fundamental and essential to combating the HIV epidemic,” she stated.
The Minister announced that Government has already initiated anti-discrimination programmes to reduce stigma while increasing the privacy of persons with HIV. By so doing, she said, the Territory has joined the international community in pledging to work towards universal access to prevention, treatment and care for persons living with HIV.
“We are currently engaged in research to determine which groups within our Territory are most vulnerable to HIV. This research will provide data to effectively plan and develop appropriate sexual health promotion activities that will reduce, and hopefully halt the spread of HIV,” she announced.
The first HIV case was reported locally in June 1985. Since then a total of 99 cases have been reported, while 33 persons have died from the disease. According to official statistics 32 of the current HIV positive persons receive care and treatment overseas while the others are treated locally.
World AIDS Day is observed each year on December 1. It is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. The disease killed more than 25 million people worldwide between 1981 and 2007. An estimated 33.2 million people worldwide live with HIV making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history.
British Virgin Islands News