As we observe World AIDS Day today, December 1st 2014, we take the time to remember our loved ones, extended families and friends who have passed. We are reminded of the families and friends living with us, among us, working with us and socializing with us especially at this time of the year. The local theme for world AIDS Day this year is “take a stand, I stand, we stand for Zero new infections, Zero Deaths, Zero discrimination did you stand?” I know that I am standing! The Ministry of Health and Human Services is standing.
90-90-90 – is an ambitious treatment target to help end the AIDS epidemic. In a move to jointly address the HIV epidemic and improve the lives of people living with the virus, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and partner organizations have established new targets for expanding diagnosis and antiretroviral treatment (ART) and reducing patients’ viral loads by the year 2020.
The new targets – dubbed “90-90-90”– were adopted during the First Latin American and Caribbean Forum on the HIV Continuum of Care which was held in Mexico in May 2014.
By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status. By 2020, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy. By 2020, 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
As the Turks and Caicos Islands joins the rest of the world to meet the three 90% targets, I encourage everyone to know their status. In the words of Koffi Annan “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress in every society, in every family”. We want to progress, we have done a lot but there is still much more to do. Therefore, I encourage all of you to KNOW your status, if you find that you are positive seek early treatment and care. The National AIDs Programme Coordinator, Mrs Robinson says she is looking for an AIDS free Turks and Caicos and I believe that it is possible! If those persons on medication adhere to their medication regimes, their viral load becomes undetectable. If an individual’s viral load is undetectable and they are living healthy. We are ready for an AIDS FREE Turks and Caicos. Let us work together to make this a reality.
Mrs. Aldora Robinson R/N, Msc, MBA, HIV Unit Program Coordinator
As we observe World AIDS Day December 1st with the rest of the world, it is a time to remember loved ones and friends that have passed on. It is also a time to pause and reflect not only on persons presently living with HIV, but on ourselves as individuals. Have our lives impacted someone living with HIV in a positive way? What are we doing if anything and how can we do it better? Achieving an AIDS-free Turks and Caicos as resources for HIV shrink, requires strategic action at both the local and national levels. We must find the resources to sustain prevention programmes, increase access to services for key populations, while we scale up and expand treatment and care programmes and also meet the needs of our ageing population of people living with HIV.
This year’s theme “take a stand, I stand, we stand for Zero new infections, Zero Deaths, Zero discrimination did you stand?” encourages everyone to stand, it is important that we do. We must ask ourselves what is my organization doing concerning HIV, what is my role? What is my church doing? How do I get involved? What is my civic group doing, am I doing my part? Anyone in business thinks about profit, for me, in the business of HIV/STI prevention, my profit is an AIDS free TCI.
Priorities for the TCI for the next year and beyond is a people-centred approach that promotes the welfare and well-being of people ensuring that we meet the target of 90% of persons in the TCI are tested for HIV and know their status, 90% of persons who test positive are linked to care and 90% of persons on treatment have viral loads which are undetectable. We are also focusing on eliminating Mother To Child Transmission of HIV and Syphilis, a men’s health strategy, in addition to strategies for the prison population and sex workers. We hope to develop targeted interventions for the key populations mentioned. So, let us take a stand.