BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AS the world continues to fight against the long-standing HIV/AIDS virus, the local Health Ministry has made a bold step towards completely removing it from the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
This was revealed by the Federation’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Patrick Marin, who related to the media that the current goal of the Ministry of Health is to have “zero infections, zero transmission, zero stigma and discrimination by 2015”.
To this end, he noted that citizens and residents of the Federation need to be more serious when it comes to their sexual health.
He also noted that since the ministry is focusing on completely eliminating the spread of the virus from the country, they continue to preach the essential theme of prevention - abstinence, faithfulness and condom use.
In a release to the media on World AIDS Day, it highlighted that women, most specifically those who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, are strongly urged to get tested and use medication that could prevent HIV from spreading from an infected mother to her child.
It was duly said that testing and medications for those who may need it are available at the nearest community health center and at all personal physicians.
When it comes to statistics, St. Kitts and Nevis has however seen a decrease in the number of new cases of infected persons. As of 2012, there have been only nine new confirmed cases of infected persons, bringing the overall total to 345 from 1984-2012, with the highest being 34 in 1996.
The government, through the Health Ministry, has provided some 75 percent of the funding for the HIV/AIDFs programme, which has totalled some EC$1.7M up to 2011, and it is said that the ministry currently has some 75 registered person with the virus.
One of the critical issues the ministry has been focusing on throughout the years is the fight to stop discrimination against persons infected with HIV/AIDS, which has been a growing problem throughout the entire region.
However, the ministry has put plans in place to deal with such problems, specifically to the healthcare workers.
“People who need services will continue to be served without regard to race, religion, gender, national origin, immigration status, political affiliation, sexual orientation and income level. Among other activities, the Ministry of Health will be rolling out are codes of conduct, privacy and confidentiality to govern healthcare workers. Posters and other material will be made available for the public to be aware of the quality of care, treatment and respect to expect from healthcare workers,” the release stated.
Meanwhile, the UNAIDS Caribbean had on world AIDS Day 2013 launched a programme which, too, seeks to end discrimination against persons living with the virus.
They have since made public rights for those persons living or infected with the virus.
People are entitled to:
• The highest possible level of health (including sexual health) and social security;
• Equality and non-discrimination;
• Be free of fear and want;
• Privacy;
• Information and education;
• Freedom of expression; and
• Effective remedy for violations of fundamental rights.
In their overall assessment of the region’s fight against the deadly virus, the United Nations congratulated the region for what it deems “remarkable progress towards ending AIDS in the region”.
The antiretroviral drug has seen a 54 percent decline in the number of AIDS-related deaths in the region.
The UN report stated that the region has also made significant strides to eliminate mother to child transmission. It also stated that with treatment and testing, the overall infection rate has dropped by some 49 percent when compared to 2001.
In his presentation to mark World AIDS Day, Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe explained that “the world is poised to end AIDS, and if we stay true to our vision we will remember this as the day a lifelong of dreams began to transform into reality”.
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