The 13th Ordinary Meeting of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism (RCM) of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) will be convened in Georgetown, Guyana from 17 – 18 September, 2009.

Under the chairmanship of John Fabien, Minister of Health, Dominica, and Chairman of the RCM, the meeting will receive reports on the status of programmes and projects being implemented by PANCAP as well as the ongoing re-organisation of PANCAP Coordinating Unit (PCU). Discussions will also focus on the movement towards a constitution for PANCAP.

The issue of resource mobilisation remains high on the agenda and initiatives on the Global Fund and the Second Phase of the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will also be discussed.

Arrangements for the 9th Annual General Meeting of PANCAP which will be held from 29 to 30 October, 2009, in St George’s, Grenada, under the theme “Towards Universal Access: Enhancing the Multi-sectoral Response to HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean” will also be finalised at the meeting.

The meeting opens at 9:00 am with a special session in which remarks will be delivered by several Community officials, including Guyana’s Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy, who is also the Global Fund Board member for the Latin America and Caribbean constituency; the Honourable John Fabien; and PANCAP Director, Mr. Carl Browne.

The RCM is the Executive Board of PANCAP and its responsibilities include providing policy guidance on the effective management and operation of the partnership and approving and directing all PANCAP projects. PANCAP, established in 2001, is the regional mechanism responsible for coordinating the Caribbean’s response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

(CARICOM Secretariat)