The following is an interview with Lois Hue, deputy director general, Jamaica Red Cross who attended the International HIV and AIDS Conference which took place in August in Mexico City, Mexico.
What is the situation of HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean?
The Caribbean is the region with the second highest prevalence and infection rates after Sub-Saharan Africa and we are also aware that we have not begun to make significant decreases in the Caribbean.
We know that there is great need for attention in many areas such as prevention certainly, care and support and only recently in the Caribbean have we started to afford treatment for all and it still needs improvement.
We will continue to have to deal with HIV and AIDS unless we begin to change the trends. The incidence must go down and the only way to do that is by education, and working to decrease the incidence of discrimination and stigma associated with HIV and AIDS. A great deal of work has to be done in reducing stigma and discrimination.
Children who are affected and infected are also an area of attention for the Caribbean as well as mother-to-child transmission.
There have been significant gains in that area, in reducing the number of mothers giving birth to HIV-positive babies, because of the drugs we have introduced and the screening processes that have been made. But far more needs to be done to support our good work.
Why do you think the HIV prevalence in the Caribbean is so high among women and youth?
I believe that, as is the case in other parts of the world, the poorest are the most vulnerable and most affected.
There is a school of thought that talks about culture in terms of sexual practices and it’s related to the economy as well, people having multiple partners - not in terms of industry but as a means of survival - women with multiple partners and children.
Because of the cultural acceptance, and the tradition of the man being “a stud”, many men father children without taking the responsibility of providing for them. Today there are many men who still have many children.
Some of them consider themselves invulnerable, and they take chances, experimenting with sex, with drugs, and things like this, that raise the vulnerability of women.
The lack of basic education and understanding around the issue is also crucial. It is important to get people to change their behaviour and attitudes and increase education and awareness among vulnerable groups, including women and children.
What programmes is the Red Cross implementing in the Caribbean?
The Red Cross has been working a number of years in HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean because we are working with people whom others have not wanted to help - for example, men who have sex with men and sex workers, and different groups who have not traditionally been targeted in the past. We are working with anti-stigma and discrimination and we are also doing voluntary counselling and testing.
With what countries in the Caribbean is the Red Cross launching this Global Alliance and how does it coordinate with partners and governments?
Jamaica, Haiti, Guyana and Belize - we are happy to be part of this. It has taken hard work and we recognize the importance of monitoring and reporting. It’s wonderful and exciting because we have the opportunity to work with and support our partners locally and regionally.
The programme encourages talking to all stakeholders and particularly the national HIV and AIDS programmes, so we work closely with the governments in the Caribbean, not only in Jamaica, who are part of the Global Alliance, and we look at the needs.
Off course sex workers and men who have sex with men are important but youth has also been a strong focus in the Red Cross in the Caribbean. We have expanded our "Together We Can" programme that started in the Caribbean, which is a programme known all over. We will work with other entities and share our experience to widen our reach.
If you had a message to give to policy-makers, governments, civil society and partners in the Caribbean who are also working on these issues as a whole, what would it be?
In many countries, a National Strategic Plan has been developed, however there are still civil society organizations and NGOs that work in parallel and I would like to encourage their collaboration because there is so much to be gained. Replication is reduced, you no longer meet the same groups all time.
Working with other agencies would increase our efforts and impact. I would like to encourage a united effort, working together, like our theme "Together We Can", and if we can really do that “together”, then we can achieve much more.
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| Lois Hue, deputy director general, Jamaica Red Cross |
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