*EPF210 09/30/2003
U.S. Providing $2.15 Million to Help HIV-Positive People from Caribbean
(HHS announcement comes as HIV/AIDS meeting ends in Port of Spain) (760)

By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will provide $2.15 million through six grants to assist HIV-positive people from the Caribbean who are living in the United States.

In a September 30 statement, HHS said the grants will help patients from the Caribbean understand the nature of their HIV infection and HIV treatment options and help them obtain HIV medical and ancillary services when needed.

The grants are part of an overall awarding of 58 grants by HHS totaling more than $21.5 million for HIV-prevention approaches and to treat people living in the United States with HIV/AIDS, a disease U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has called "more devastating than a terrorist attack or a weapon of mass destruction, and as cruel as any tyrant." Powell said that in the fight against AIDS, "all countries have a strong and committed ally in the United States of America."

The Caribbean grants are funded under the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act's Special Projects of National Significance Program. That program supports the development of innovative HIV/AIDS service delivery models designed to improve treatment for the disease.

The six grant recipients for helping Caribbean people living in the United States are the University of Miami (Florida) School of Medicine; the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York; the Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center and the Lutheran Medical Center, both in Brooklyn, New York; the Community Health Care Network in Manhattan, New York; and the Academy for Educational Development in Washington, D.C.

HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said that "we have learned much about HIV/AIDS since the 1980s, but we still have a long way to go to prevent the spread of HIV and to ensure people in need get appropriate care. Armed with the knowledge learned through these grants, we will be able to share best practices and improve care in communities across the country."

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Caribbean Regional Program on HIV/AIDS is aimed at mitigating the destructive effects of the disease in the Caribbean and preventing its further spread. USAID has HIV/AIDS programs in 12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The agency said that at the end of 2002, more than 1.9 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean were living with HIV/AIDS. The Caribbean region has the world's highest HIV/AIDS prevalence outside of sub-Saharan Africa.

Worldwide, the United States is the largest donor of bilateral HIV/AIDS assistance, providing almost half of all international counter-disease funding in 2002 with programs in more than 75 countries.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government convened in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, a September 29-30 Caribbean-U.S. Chiefs of Mission Conference on HIV/AIDS. The conference was designed to review progress made in the Caribbean region on HIV/AIDS since a similar gathering was held in 2002 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

More than 80 participants were at the Port of Spain event, including representatives from the U.S. State Department, USAID, HHS, and U.S. ambassadors serving in the Caribbean region. Other participants were from the United Nations, the Pan American Health Organization, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and Caribbean health care and service groups.

A September 30 press release from the U.S. embassy in Port of Spain following the conference said participants concluded that Caribbean regional cooperation on HIV/AIDS is the only way to tackle the pandemic.

The release said conference participants also made a number of specific comments on how to tackle the problem, concluding, for instance, that because the region has the second-highest HIV prevalence in the world, the Caribbean must remain "a high priority for HIV/AIDS control intervention."

In addition, the participants said HIV/AIDS is a problem of mutual U.S.-Caribbean concern due to the substantial migration between Caribbean nations and the United States, and because Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are part of the Caribbean region.

Also, the participants said U.S. resources for HIV/AIDS control in the region total more than $33 million, and are increasing due to President Bush's commitment to fighting global AIDS. As a signatory member of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against AIDS, the U.S. government's activities and interventions "are, and should continue to be, conducted in close collaboration with Caribbean regional and national strategies and programs," the participants said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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