Collective will needed to sustain HIV response – PANCAP Head
More than G$100,000 in food and other items were handed over to the Guyana National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) in a brief ceremony at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat to observe World AIDS Day 2015 on 1 December.
At the ceremony, PANCAP Coordinating Unit Director, Mr. Dereck Springer, reiterated the importance of such an initiative which started three years ago, in 2013. Making reference to ending the AIDS epidemic as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 3, the Director reminded those who participated in the ceremony of the need to sustain the HIV response and for the collective will to do so. He noted that the donation would go a long way in helping to meet the nutritional needs of persons living with HIV and AIDS in Guyana.
In presenting the donation, CARICOM Secretariat Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development, Dr. Douglas Slater, thanked the NAPS for its service over the years and alluded to its work to keep HIV on the front burner in face of so many other priorities and challenges.
We all know that were it not for the service of all of us gathered here, despite the challenges, the gains made over the years to stem the tide of this disease could be reversed,” he said.
NAPS Programme Manager, Dr. Shanti Singh, in expressing appreciation for the initiative said, “one of the key goals under the SDGs is partnerships …. and we cherish the partnership that we have with PANCAP and CARICOM over the years”. Continuing, Dr. Singh noted that the partnership existed not only at the level of policy, but also at the level where direct support to the programme was given.
We all have a purpose and that purpose is to provide high quality of services to people living with HIV; they depend on us,” she said.
Dr. Singh stated that the nutritional support received would go to the Food Bank which was established by the Programme in 2008.
Representatives of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit, other staff members of the wider Secretariat and representatives from the NAP, including the manager of the Food Bank, Mr. Somdatt Ramessar attended the handing over ceremony.
World AIDS 2015 is being held under the theme Ending the AIDS epidemic as part of the Sustainable Development Goals, which the PANCAP Director noted in an earlier message to mark the occasion, was aligned to the new PANCAP Vision of An AIDS Free Caribbean.
Read World AIDS Day Messages here:
Director, Pancap Coordinating Unit Message On The Occasion Of 2015 World Aids Day
