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| JAMAICA
TO LEAD GLOBAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST HIV/AIDS
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KINGSTON, Sept.18 (JIS):
BY: O. RODGER HUTCHINSON |
Jamaica
has been selected to be part of an elite group of
countries to spearhead a campaign aimed at uniting
the world in eliminating HIV and AIDS among children.
A project of the United Nations Children’s
Fund, the five-year campaign, which will be launched
on October 25, is designed to sensitise the global
community about the pandemic and how it affects
children and to galvanize political support towards
addressing the problem.
The theme for the campaign is: ‘Unite for
Children, Unite for AIDS’ and according to
UNICEF representative, Bertrand Bainvel, the focus
will be on four main areas.
The first area is preventing mother to child transmission
by providing antiretroviral drugs to HIV positive
mothers, making testing more widely available, encouraging
voluntary testing and providing counselling for
children and mothers.
The second area of focus is providing paediatric
treatment, including drugs; the third area involves
protection, care and support for children affected
by HIV/AIDS; and the fourth area is prevention to
reduce adolescent risks and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS
by increasing access to and the use of gender sensitive
prevention information and services.
As one of the four countries in Latin America and
the Caribbean named ‘champion countries’
by the United Nations Global Fund for HIV/AIDS,
for its work to protect against and educate children
about the dreaded pandemic, a lot of attention is
going to be brought on Jamaica, to lead the campaign
in the region, Mr. Bainvel points out. The other
three countries in the region so named are Brazil,
Haiti and Honduras.
“The country is expected to play a lead role
in showcasing to the world what has already been
done here as well as to be a role model for the
rest of the Caribbean region,” he states.
He notes that Jamaica was selected because “the
country already has a lot to show in terms of what
works in terms of a response for HIV/AIDS and what
works for children.”
What works in Jamaica, he says, is access to treatment,
and innovative prevention interventions, such as
the recently launched ‘Bashy Bus,’ mobile
health service by the Spanish Town-based non-government
group, Children First, with support from the Ministry
of Health, UNICEF and the United Nations Global
Fund on HIV/AIDS.
A gift from Infinity Tours Limited, the ‘Bashy
Bus’, is a multi-coloured, air conditioned
coaster bus, which will visit popular hangouts to
provide young people with information on reproductive
health and healthy lifestyle.
On board will be peer educators and facilitators,
who will distribute literature on adolescent reproductive
health, encourage young people to delay sex, promote
abstinence, as well as to increase the use of condoms
where youngsters are sexually active.
Globally, over 15 million children have been made
orphans by HIV/AIDS, while some 2 million others
are HIV positive and more than 500,000 children
died last year of AIDS-related causes.
The infection rate is highest in Sub-Saharan Africa,
and Mr. Bainvel is pleased at the fact that more
African countries are becoming involved in the effort
to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS.
There are also other countries such as China, Russia,
India and others, “which are now coming to
the realization that HIV/AIDS is a big problem that
has to be dealt with,” he notes.
Mr. Bainvel points out that an effort will also
be made to accelerate some intervention programmes
and to go the “full hundred” in terms
of coverage, treatment and prevention. |
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