TWELVE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states are to receive US$100 million over the next five years to support their work in combating HIV and AIDS.

A document to that effect was on Tuesday signed by  U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Karen L. Williams and  CARICOM  Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite, at the CARICOM Secretariat. And according to Williams, countries can start to request funds next month from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which is the main U.S. programme for international AIDS programmes.

Planning for the Caribbean Regional Partnership five-year strategy began in 2009 with   only Guyana and Haiti benefitting.

But according to Williams, who is also acting U.S. Ambassador in Guyana, this agreement will provide funds to treat people in Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Caribbean has the second highest AIDS infection rate outside of sub-Saharan Africa.
Deputy Secretary General of Caricom Lolita Applewhaite welcomed the expansion which comes at a time when regional HIV and AIDS programmes have lost funding.

The PEPFAR programme in the region is a collaborative effort of the government of the United States, CARICOM, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and the 12 Caribbean national governments in support of the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS.

The focus is on partnership and working with national governments and regional programmes on ownership and support of national programmes.

The PEPFAR Caribbean Regional HIV/AIDS Partnership Framework is a five-year strategy that is based on HIV/AIDS national strategic plans of each individual country government.  These are designed to complement the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS.

PEPFAR represents a global commitment first launched in 2003 to reduce the incidence and limit the spread of HIV/AIDS in the world, while assisting those who have contracted the disease.

To date, globally, as a result of PEPFAR, more than two million HIV-infected persons have been treated, more than 10 million have been provided care, and seven million new infections have been prevented.  PEPFAR represents the largest commitment in history made by a nation to a single disease.

PEPFAR employs a diverse prevention, treatment, and care strategy with an emphasis on partnerships, transparency, and accountability for results coordinated from the U.S. Embassy in Barbados.

Six U.S. government agencies collaborate in a single program in the battle against HIV and AIDS for greatest effectiveness. These agencies are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Defense, the Peace Corps, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Department of State.

Several meetings and country consultations were conducted with national stakeholders and regional programmes in each of the countries to identify the program priorities that this Partnership Framework embraces.

The OECS and the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP)  participate as regional partners.