Planners formulate national AIDS strategy
While the world’s response to the AIDS pandemic may be longer on hope than it is on cash, there are increasing resources being made available to countries like Belize. But more money doesn’t necessarily mean better results. The key, as News 5’s Jacqueline Woods discovered, is how to get organised.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The Ministry of Health is in the process of developing the first comprehensive plan for HIV and AIDS in Belize. The work is being done in collaboration with the Caribbean Epidemiological Centre, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Global Aids Programme and the Pan American Health Organization.
Noreen Jack, Consultant, Caribbean Regional Office, CDC
?The country must have a national strategic plan; they must own it. People might come with various interests and do what they want and what they see, but as a country you need to know what are your objectives and goals in terms of reduction of HIV transmission and how to care for people with HIV/AIDS.?
Dr. Paul Edwards, Epidemiologist, MOH
?Yes, we are in the process of developing a national strategic plan that goes outside of only the Ministry of Health?s response. So we decided we needed to do this because the World Health Organization has a plan called, an initiative called three by five to treat three million persons living with HIV/AIDS with medications by the ending of the year 2005, globally. So, Belize Ministry of Health will be supported financially by that initiative. At the same time we are going to implement the activities from Global Fund and at the same time we have our government?s HIV/AIDS budget of eight hundred thousand Belize dollars. So we needed to look at critically where we are at with relation to care treatment and support, where we want to go and of paramount importance the process of getting there.?
The situational analysis is being carried out by MOH, CAREC, CDC, GAP, PAHO and persons living with HIV and AIDS.
Sandra Jones, PAHO
?The Ministry of Health implemented its treatment and care programme a year ago and like all programmes its time for you to step back and do an assessment of what is happening, look at the strengths and weaknesses and gaps and areas of improvement. So this is what is actually going on and at the end of the day a national plan, which will actually improve under services that is being offered not only by the Ministry of Health but all the key stakeholders that are actively involved in the whole response to HIV and AIDS.?
Noreen Jack
?We have been looking at your various clinics, the voluntary counselling and testing clinics, the hospitals, what patient care is being provided; inpatient/outpatient paediatric care. We have also looked at a really good example a best practise at your prison at the Kolbe Foundation where care and support is being provided to prisoners with HIV and AIDS and that is really excellent. We also visited a number of groups of people living with HIV/AIDS?
Emmerson Talbert is just one of twenty-four inmates living with HIV and AIDS at the Hattieville Prison.
Emmerson Talbert, HIV Positive
?If a person is found to be HIV Positive, they enter into a special phase where they go on a special diet, they are getting the medication if needed and stuff like that.?
?We have like ten or eleven people who are actually on medication alright. They are scattered throughout the prison because we distinctively fight against discrimination and stigma. So everybody gets along very well and with the support group, I am a part of, we educate each other, we educate people who are affected by this virus because as you know to every one person that may be affected, there are six to twelve people affected by it whether family member, friends, kids so have you. So we try our very best to educate people about our status and educate them about how to prevent themselves from being affected.?
Once released from the institution, the inmates voluntarily enrol in an after care programme. The assessment also highlighted other areas that need to be improved and included in the national operational plan. Noreen Jack, a CDC Consultant with the Caribbean Regional Office, says they noticed that there is a real commitment and dedication by a core of people but that interest is concentrated in Belize City, Dangriga and the Cayo District.
Noreen Jack
?At present it may have reached its limits in the current situation. So you need to look at all the infrastructure, the human resources that are required, the laboratory supports to scale up the programme further to really bring care to people living with HIV/AIDS and care is not just for the people who are sick, it is even the people who are HIV positive but are healthy you should bring into care.?
The work is expected to conclude by the end of the month at which time there will be in place a National Operational Plan for Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Treatment and Support. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
