I send you all very fond greetings and best wishes on the occasion of the 3rd Annual General Meeting of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS. PANCAP as it is affectionately known, is a very special mechanism endorsed by the Heads of Government of CARICOM as a pillar of the Nassau Declaration which emphasised that the “health of the region is the wealth of the Region”.
PANCAP was established as a network through which the regional governments, private sector, NGOs and other entities could pool resources to more effectively fight this disease. HIV is a disease that is diminishing our vital human resources, especially the young and the young mothers and their babies.
It creates further inequalities among our peoples, especially when access to care and treatment are denied to many because they are unable to afford the necessary anti retroviral drugs (ARVs) that would definitely improve their chances of surviving and leading useful and productive lives. HIV/AIDS, if not checked would render meaningless all our plans for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy and a competitive region within the global system.
Since the initiation of this Partnership with the signing of the Partnership Agreement in February 2001 in Barbados, several agencies have contributed in no uncertain way to the strengthening of PANCAP.
Among these is the European Union that provided the first substantial support for enhancing the institutional capability of our PANCAP partners, namely: CARICOM, CAREC, CHRC, CRN, UNAIDS and UWI. This grant has acted as a catalyst for core support from other agencies to PANCAP.
We are grateful to several donors who have since contributed in so many ways to the building of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit. Chief among these are CIDA and USAID.
I am glad that at this meeting you are focusing on the implementation of the new structure and functions that were recommended at the second annual meeting of PANCAP last year.
It is important that after three years, PANCAP is placing emphasis on regularising the organisational structure and functions of the network in an attempt to more effectively carry out its objectives. It this regard, I am very pleased to note that vital stakeholder groups like CRN+ and Caribbean Network of People Living with AIDS are designed to play a much more active role in the decision making structure of PANCAP.
I am also glad to note also that among the main items of the agenda are the discussions on a concerted strategy for securing cheaper anti-retrovirol drugs.
When on behalf of PANCAP, I signed the agreement in principle with six pharmaceutical Companies in Barcelona in July 2002 it was a landmark move, insofar as we were the first regional entity, along with the South West African States to arrive at a collective price for ARVs. In fact, it was at this meeting that I invited former United States President, Bill Clinton to become more actively in the fight against HIV/AIDS here in the Caribbean Region.
In this endeavour we were fortunate to have several Partners among whom WHO, PAHO, UNAIDS and subsequently the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation. I expect that this meeting will give its fullest attention to the regional strategy that would make ARVs accessible to the people living with AIDS especially the poor and vulnerable groups.
This Annual General Meeting takes place at a time when the Caribbean Region has much to celebrate with the recent announcement of grant awards from the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS and TB and Malaria to eight proposals, including those from PANCAP and the OECS, and from Belize, Guyana, Haiti and Jamaica.
These awards however provide the ultimate challenge to the PANCAP family to ensure that there is a more judicious system of sharing and maximizing the resources in the interest of People Living With AIDS and in averting the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Even though we are receiving these resources from the global fund and from the other partners there is still a large gap to be filled, if we are to fully respond to the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS in this Region against the Caribbean people.
I hope therefore that at this meeting, the engagement with our donor partners would yield positive responses and that in the spirit of a true Partnership; this meeting would have its deliberations and would seek to truly accelerate this region’s response to HIV/AIDS
I wish you all a successful Annual General meeting of PANCAP.
