(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Honourable John Maginley, Minister of Health of Antigua and Barbuda has come in for praise for his leadership role in contributing to the passage of a bill which sees the expansion of the United States President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to include fourteen Caribbean countries.
US Congresswoman, Donna Christensen, of the US Virgin Islands, acknowledged and applauded the minister for the pivotal role he played in efforts to accomplish the successful passage of the bill. “Your leadership on and forward thinking ideas about how to address the HIV and AIDS pandemic that has and continues to have a noted impact, not only in Antigua and Barbuda, but in the larger Caribbean has been impressive…”, the Congresswoman said.
The PEPFAR is the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease. It is a five-year, multi billion dollar initiative that started in 2003 and which at that time, included only two Caribbean countries, Haiti and Guyana.
Congresswoman Christensen and a number of her colleagues, ‘established as a key legislative priority the expansion of PEPFAR to include fourteen Caribbean nations” as “focus countries”.
Minister Maginley was instrumental in helping to secure much needed support from other Caribbean Health Ministers and providing information regarding the impact of HIV and AIDS in Antigua and Barbuda, and the wider Caribbean, as well as challenges experienced as a Region in trying to combat this deadly pandemic in a comprehensive manner.
Congresswoman Christensen hailed Mr. Maginley as the “first Health Minister from the Caribbean to sign onto the very important support letter that we developed and sent to our colleagues in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.”
Recommitting to working closely with the Congresswoman to ensure that the nations which comprise the world’s second hardest hit region by HIV and AIDS, receive bilateral assistance through this program, the Minister stated that he was proud of the achievement of Congresswoman Christensen and her team in passing the first stage in a process that will eventually see the enactment of the bill.
CONTACT: Volderine Hackett: vhackett@caricom.org, pancap@caricom.org
piu@caricom.org
