A critical health challenge is unfolding across the Caribbean, with approximately 100,000 people living with HIV not accessing life-saving antiretroviral therapy, according to UNAIDS.
UNAIDS stated that while there has been steady progress to put more of the 340,000 people living with HIV in care and on treatment, the pace is concerningly slow.
Currently in the Caribbean, only seven in ten people living with HIV are on treatment, and only six in ten are virally suppressed. The situation is particularly concerning, with one in every three HIV cases being identified at the stage of advanced HIV disease.
UNAIDS identified multiple barriers preventing effective HIV care, noting that “stigma and discrimination, harmful laws and policies and operational issues are among the plethora of challenges that keep people living with HIV away from health services.”
As the region prepares to commemorate World AIDS Day on December 1 under the theme “Take the Rights Path,” UNAIDS warns that without urgent attention, the Caribbean will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 3.3 to end the AIDS epidemic.
Dr Richard Amenyah, UNAIDS Caribbean Director, urged “Governments and all stakeholders to embrace the rights path.”
“Let us dismantle barriers, promote innovative health solutions, and sustain investments in resilient health systems,” he added.
The organisation emphasised that “health is a human right” and stressed that “protecting human rights is therefore non-negotiable in the fight against HIV.”
Amenyah further explained that “self-stigma and fear of discrimination or disclosure of HIV status prevent people from seeking HIV services which results in late start of treatment or being lost to follow up and retention on treatment.”
UNAIDS remains optimistic, firmly believing that “the Caribbean can end the AIDS epidemic if leaders revolutionize and scale up prevention and treatment access as well as protect and promote the rights of everyone living with and at risk of HIV.”
The organisation is calling on Caribbean governments to work closely with communities to address these critical challenges and create a more inclusive approach to HIV care and prevention. (Caribbean Loop News)
