Aids Commission honours frontline soldiers
You see many of them on this newscast as spokespersons or experts in our continuing coverage of the epidemic of HIV and AIDS. And while others may be less well known to viewers, they all received official recognition today for their efforts in combating the disease. News Five’s Kendra Griffith reports.
Kendra Griffith, Reporting
No red carpet was on the floor, but there were plenty of cameras at this morning’s award ceremony. The event was organised by the National AIDS Commission and the Ministry of Health to recognise what NAC Chair Ambassador Dolores Balderamos Garcia referred to as the “soldiers on the front line.”
Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Chair, National AIDS Commission
“In any war you cannot fight twenty-four seven. You have to pause and regroup and you have to see where you are and make an assessment. And when we paused we realised that there were many individuals and a few organisations as well that we should honour.”
The awardees were Dr. Pedro Arriaga of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, Dr. Ninfa Ken of the Southern Regional Hospital and former Director of the National AIDS Programme, Dr. Paul Edwards.
Dr. Paul Edwards, Central Regional Manager
“This is certainly a surprise, but the credit needs to be given to all those healthcare workers who continue to work in the struggle to fight against HIV/AIDS.”
The fourteen award recipients also include Coordinator of the V.C.T. Centre, Psychiatric Nurse, Margaret Bradley and twenty year veteran clinician George Carr of the National S.T.I. Programme.
George Carr, Clinician, Port Loyola Health Centre
“I just like helping people that is down and out and a lot of these people that is infected and affected by HIV are usually initially down and out until we can perk them up.”
Noreen Castillo, a member of the Dangriga N.G.O., POWA was awarded for her educational outreach efforts.
Noreen Castillo, Member, POWA
“This award ya, it just mek a feel more, it mek I feel more like fi go out right now and work more harder inna my community right.”
Deputy Chair of NAC and Executive Director of Alliance Against AIDS, Rodel Beltran Perera, took home a plaque for his more than twenty years in the field.
Rodel Beltran Perera, Executive Dir., A.A.A.
“I couldn’t do this alone. I thank you all. I share this, however, with the children, the children who are HIV positive, the women who are HIV positive, those men, those young persons that we are seeing more and more. I accept this humbly on their behalf.”
Organisational awards went to the Anglican Diocese for their in-school programme and Hand in Hand for their work in paediatric HIV.
Rev. Lloyd Neal, Dean, St. John’s Cathedral
“This, as I said, is a distinguished honour on our behalf and we feel proud to be a part of the advocacy programme.”
Nadia Armstrong, Dir., Hand in Hand Outreach Centre
“I’d like to thank the Hand in Hand Ministries family; without them this would not have been possible. We look forward to continue networking and collaborating with all the agencies who are advocates for children with HIV and AIDS.”
Not present for the ceremony were Western Regional’s Dr. Francis Murray; Psychiatric Nurse, Carol Tennyson of the San Ignacio Hospital; paediatrician, Dr. Victor Rosado of Belize Medical Associates; Dr. Jair Osorio, Head of the HIV/AIDS Committee in Orange Walk, and Southern Regional Hospital Nurse Raquel Moreira.
Margaret Ventura, C.E.O., Ministry of Health
“Today has been a very important activity recognising all those who have been involved all the way back to 1986 in recognising the first coordinator and up to today those who are directly involved. To those who we may not have recognised and awarded today, it is not to say that your work is not appreciated and recognised.”
Latest statistics coming out of UNAIDS show that there are thirty-three point two million people living with HIV across the globe. Two point five million new infections were recorded in 2007 with an estimated six thousand eight hundred new infections per day. Fifty percent of those new infections occur in women while youths fifteen to twenty-four years old account for forty percent.
Director of Belize’s National AIDS Programme Dr. Marvin Manzanero says we have yet to make the kind of progress that will significantly slow the epidemic.
Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director, National AIDS Programme
“Last year we have four hundred and forty-three infections, but by the first semester of this year we already had two hundred and thirty infection, so the infection rate is still practically going to be around four hundred and forty to four hundred and sixty this year.”
The first six months of 2007 also saw forty-three AIDS cases diagnosed and twenty-three deaths.
Dr. Marvin Manzanero
“If we are putting more and more people on treatment we will expect them be dying less, extending their life span, so that total number of people dying of AIDS should start to go down, but the people living with HIV/AIDS, if we don’t do anything to stop or halt the disease, that will just continue to increase.”
To help deal with that harsh reality, today NAC announced the recruitment of some new soldiers: the business community.
Emil Mena, President, Belize Chamber of Commerce
“AIDS is taking a huge toll on our most valuable asset of business: our human capital. I strongly believe that the business community can play a vital role in the fight against HIV and AIDS.”
According to Chamber President Emil Mena, twenty-one companies have already signed unto the Belize Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS and more are expected in the coming months.
Emil Mena
“Our objectives are and are not limited to develop and promote corporate HIV and AIDS policies and programmes, to sensitize our managers and employees by raising awareness in our businesses about HIV and AIDS through information dissemination and education, Know Your Status campaigns, fair employment practices for all using the I.L.O. code of practice as a guide and to contribute our management, marketing and other technical expertise and skills to the National HIV/AIDS response.”
The coalition will be headed by Mena and six other steering committee members.
During this morning’s ceremony NAC also launched its upgraded website www.nacbelize.org.
Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.
As part of this year’s Know Your Status Campaign, the Ministry of Health is hoping to get one thousand Belizeans tested on World AIDS Day. On Saturday, December first, tests will be conducted in Belize City at the Brodies parking lot on Regent Street; in Corozal at the Concepcion Village school grounds, while Orange Walk residents can go to the Queen Elizabeth Park. Belmopan and San Antonio Village in the Toledo District will have their testing day on Friday. The Market area will be the venue for the capital, while blood will be drawn at the fair grounds in San Antonio. On Saturday medical professionals will also be at the Cultural Centre in San Ignacio, the Market area in Dangriga, and the Punta Gorda Civic Centre.
