(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) “Eradicating poverty is the greatest challenge facing the world today,” and HIV and AIDS and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) must be addressed if poverty is to be eradicated.
This is the view of UN Assistant Secretary, Ms Elizabeth Thompson, who delivered the keynote address to the Official Opening of the Twelfth Meeting of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS, in Belize on 24 October.
According to Ms Thompson, the expenditure on diseases puts a serious burden on the social and economic capacity of our Region, and on the Partnership needed to get ahead of the “curve” in its education, prevention and treatment methods.
Ministers of Health from Belize and Jamaica, Hon. Pablo Marin and Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson who also gave remarks at the ceremony in highlighting the strides made by their countries and the progress of the Partnership on the whole, both cautioned against the pitfalls of complacency. The ministers underscored the importance of the sustainability of the Partnership, and advancing the human rights of the all people as a key element to this sustainability.
A key highlight of the Official Opening was the conferral of three PANCAP Awards for outstanding contributions to the region’s response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Hon. Dr Leslie Ramsammy, Minister of Agriculture and former Minister of Health of Guyana, and Dr Sir Prince Ramsey, former Clinical Care Coordinator of Antigua and Barbuda received Awards of Excellence, while Dr Amalia del Riego, a national of the Dominican Republic and former head of the PAHO Regional Office, received the Award of Recognition.
Against the backdrop of a grand Mayan cultural theme and under the chairmanship of Director of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit, Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland, more than 100 delegates representing regional support agencies, donor partners and organizations were treated to a rich fare of Belizean culture reflected in dance, song and other performances.
The Twelfth meeting continues over the next two days under the chairmanship of Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson who is also the current chair of the PANCAP Executive Board. The Meeting is expected to output some important recommendations for forging ahead with the HIV agenda.
PANCAP is a regional partnership established by CARICOM Heads of Government in 2001 to respond to the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean. The Annual General Meeting is the highest decision making forum of the partnership. It monitors PANCAP’s progress and performance in meeting the goals and indicators of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework (CRSF); and provides overall guidance and policy direction. The AGM also provides an annual forum for information sharing and networking among partners
Valerie Beach Horne
Strategic Information and Communication Officer
For further details, contact vbeachhorne@caricom.org
