GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Sep 17 2015 – The Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) agreed on key resource mobilisation strategies for sustaining the Caribbean HIV Response at its Governance meetings which opened on 15 September and end today, 17 September, in Paramaribo, Suriname.
The Partnership also agreed to establish an Advisory Group on Resource Mobilisation and on its membership to oversee the implementation of the strategies.
Dr. Donald Simeon, Deputy Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) presided over the meetings of the Twenty-fifth Priority Areas Coordinating Committee, Twenty-fourth PANCAP Executive Board and Ninth Regional Coordinating Mechanism for the Global Fund.
Members of the Partnership agreed on resource mobilisation strategies within and outside of the Caribbean region to sustain the gains of the last 10 years. Partners reflected on PANCAP’s impact, evident by the sharpest global decline (49 percent) in HIV incidence over the past decade; reduced HIV prevalence to 1.0 percent in 2012; and a 52 percent decline in AIDS-related deaths. PANCAP’s efforts have been critical to the increased provision of antiretroviral treatment by national programmes. The Caribbean is now poised to become the first Region in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, with Cuba already becoming the first country to be validated as having achieved this milestone, and with the OECS sub-region ready to be validated as also having achieved this goal.
The Priority Areas Coordinating Committee received updates and provided technical guidance on projects being implemented by PANCAP’s regional partners who are responsible for implementing the activities that are aligned to the Priority Areas of Caribbean Regional Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS.
Partners also agreed on the strategic focus of the PANCAP Concept Note which will be submitted to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on 1 February 2016 for new funding for the period 2017 – 2019.
Partners reaffirmed their commitment to the Partnership and to working collaboratively to achieve the global goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
Participants included: Dr. Manorma Soeknandan, Deputy Secretary-General, CARICOM Secretariat, Mr. Dereck Springer, Director of PANCAP Coordinating Unit, representatives of Member States, United Nations Partners, representatives of The University of the West Indies, Pan Caribbean Business Coalition, Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, Caribbean Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS, Caribbean Sex Work Coalition, Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities (CariFLAGS) and the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors Corps.
PANCAP is a Caribbean regional partnership of governments, regional civil society organisations, regional institutions and organisations, bilateral and multilateral agencies and contributing donor partners. Established on 14 February 2001, PANCAP provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic. In this context, it coordinates the response through the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS which seeks to mobilise resources for HIV programming, maximise the efficient use of these resources thus, increasing their impact, and build the capacity of partners.
Photo: Dr. Donald Simeon, Deputy Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)
