*EPF211 09/30/2003
Text: Regional Cooperation Critical to Tackling HIV/AIDS in Caribbean
(Recommendations on HIV/AIDS from Port of Spain conference) (840)

Regional cooperation is "the only way" to tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the Caribbean, concluded participants of a U.S.-government sponsored conference on the issue, held September 29-30 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

In a September 30 press release, the U.S. embassy in Port of Spain said participants at the U.S. Chiefs of Missions Conference on HIV/AIDS made a number of specific recommendations on addressing the problem. For instance, participants said that with the Caribbean having the second-highest rate of HIV prevalence in the world, the region must remain a "high priority for HIV/AIDS control intervention."

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7-9 Marli Street
Port of Spain
Trinidad & Tobago
Tel: (868) 622-6627/5979/Fax: (868) 628-7944
UNITED STATES EMBASSY

September 30, 2003

Regional Cooperation Critical on HIV/AIDS

The conclusion of the Caribbean U.S. Chiefs of Missions Conference on HIV/AIDS, held at the Trinidad Hilton September 29-30, 2003 confirms that regional cooperation on HIV/AIDS is the only way to tackle the pandemic.

The conference, hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Port of Spain, with support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brought together Ambassadors and Charges D'affaires from all U.S. Embassies in the Caribbean, as well as over 80 other participants including representatives of the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Defense, Peace Corps, Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM), Caribbean Epidemiology Center (CAREC), Caribbean Regional Network for Persons Living With HIV/AIDS (CRN+), Caribbean Council of Churches, Caribbean Coalition of National AIDS Program Coordinators (CCNAPC), Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC), International Labor Organization, University of the West Indies (UWI), UNAIDS and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

President Bush continues to make the global fight against HIV/AIDS a top foreign policy priority. In May 2003, the President signed the United States Leadership Against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003, which authorizes his Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -- the most aggressive program ever to fight the pandemic. United States 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.

The conference provided an opportunity for the high-level participants to provide status reports on decisions made at the April 2002 U.S. Chiefs of Mission Conference on HIV/ADS held in Port au Prince, Haiti as well as to plan future direction and co-operation on stigma reduction, prevention and control and care and treatment.

Specific recommendations include:

-- The Caribbean remains the region with the second highest HIV prevalence in the world, and therefore remains a high priority for HIV/AIDS control intervention.

-- HIV/AIDS is a problem of mutual concern between the US and the Caribbean due to the substantial migration between Caribbean nations and the US, and due to the fact that Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are part of the Caribbean region.

-- United States Agencies are harmonized and are working closely together in the region to produce unified HIV/AIDS support interventions. Cross-Agency collaboration between CDC and USAID should serve as a model for other regions of the world. Other Agencies working in HIV/AIDS -- DOL, DOD, PC, should be further incorporated into these collaborations.

-- As a signatory member of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against AIDS (PANCAP), US Government activities and interventions are, and should continue to be, conducted in close collaboration with Caribbean regional and national strategies and programs.

-- Due to the many small nations, and highly mobile population, capable and coordinated regional organizations are crucial for the Caribbean to achieve economy of scale and provide support for national HIV/AIDS control activities.

-- US Ambassadors, using both their political and social leadership, and US Government resources (including, the Ambassadors Fund for HIV/AIDS), must continue to play a key role in HIV/AIDS control activities. US Ambassadors can play a particularly pivotal role in the reduction of HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

-- With full respect to the individual needs and priorities of each country represented by the US Chiefs of Mission in the Caribbean, we hereby acknowledge the greater power and benefit to HIV/AIDS control in this region when we speak with one coordinated voice, and we endeavor to do so as we move forward.

The United States is the largest donor of bilateral HIV/AIDS assistance, providing almost half of all international counter-disease funding in 2002 with bilateral programs in more than 75 countries. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has called "HIV/AIDS more devastating than a terrorist attack or a weapon of mass destruction, and as cruel as any tyrant ... in the fight against AIDS, all countries have a strong and committed ally in the United States of America."

For additional information call U.S. Public Officer Stacey Rose-Blass or CAREC/PAHO/WHO Information Advisor Jones Madeira at 628-6435.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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