Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas has made a plea for the PAN Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS to collaborate in ensuring that all People Living With HIV and AIDS (PLWA) have access to Anti-retroviral drugs by the year 2010.

Dr. Douglas, the current Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the body's lead spokesman on HIV/AIDS and other health issues said PANCAP's future strategy must place emphasis on universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment.

He told more than 150 delegates representing member countries and organisations of PANCAP attending a Caribbean Gathering held as one of the side events at the 16th International HIV/AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada that greater emphasis must be placed on prevention programmes, especially those related to behaviour change among the youth.

The St. Kitts and Nevis leader referred to the historic occasion four years ago, at the 14th International AIDS Conference, when on behalf of the Caribbean Community- coordinated PANCAP, he signed an agreement with six pharmaceutical companies for the acquisition of ARVs at one tenth of the market price.

Dr. Douglas also noted the role of the Clinton Foundation, a member of the Partnership, in helping to secure greater access to care and treatment for PLWA in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

~~Adz:Right~~The need to strengthen the partnership and to harmonise donor resources for an optimal response was raised by the speakers, among them, Chair of the Board of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), Barbadian, Dr. Carol Jacobs; Senior Executive of the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Mr. Malcolm Mc Neil, and CEO, Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+), Ms Yolanda Simon.

In a brief interactive session, issues were raised such as the need for Caribbean governments to confront head-on the sensitive issues which hindered an optimal preventive strategy, including legislation relating to commercial sex work and men who have sex with men.

The Caribbean is highly visible at this Conference. PANCAP and a number of its core partners, including CAREC, CRN+, UWI, have collaborated in mounting an exhibition which has attracted a wide cross section of the 24,000 delegates attending the Conference.

PANCAP presented a satellite panel on the theme: "Delivering Universal

Access: Perspectives, prospects and challenges in the Pan Caribbean on Thursday, 17 August.