New AIDS Commission seeks greater focus

There are few government bodies that have a more important task than the National AIDS Commission. Today, in keeping with the change of government, that body was reconstituted with new faces … and a renewed sense of purpose.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
The symbolic pinning of the ribbon of hope on Kathy Esquivel marked her official installation as Chairperson of the National AIDS Commission.

Kathy Esquivel, Chairperson, National AIDS Commission
“We have to ask ourselves, has our activity prevented one case of transmission, has our activity improved the lives of one person infected? And if the answer is no, then it’s busy work, we have to change the work we are doing.”

And in making the leap from Opposition representative on the commission to leading the charge, Esquivel has set a lofty goal for herself.

Kathy Esquivel
“Our biggest job in the commission is to ensure that in five years time we no longer have a job.”

Assisting the Chairwoman are twenty-two commissioners representing various segments of society including several government ministries, the private sector, NGOs, the Council of Churches, the opposition, and the medical community.

The means by which Esquivel plans to fulfill the NAC mandate of coordinating the national response to HIV include evaluating and focusing the work of the commission.

Kathy Esquivel
“Too often we spend all our time fulfilling other people’s agenda, both nationally and internationally and I think part of the reason is we don’t have our own agenda and we have to learn to say no. Just because there’s funding out there, we have to hurry write a proposal. There should be a need out there whether there is money or not. Once you’ve identified the need, then you look for where you are going to get it.”

Belize’s major successes are its free HIV testing, implementation of a Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Programme, and offering free anti-retroviral medication … but Prime Minister Dean Barrow admits that real achievement will rely heavily on the public’s participation.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“AIDS is an illness, but like the other top causes of death in Belize, the prescription lies in changing attitudes and behaviours more than on the state of the art medical technology. We go to doctors asking that they cure our ills when often the cure lies inside us. We do not want to hear about changing our behaviour; we want a pill to pop.”

Judging from the 2007 statistics coming out of the National AIDS Programme, Belizeans have yet to take the message of behaviour change to heart.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director, National AIDS Programme
“The total number of new HIV infections, which is what we always get questioned for, is a hundred and twenty-two new cases for the last three months, which means the total for the year is four-fifty, which puts it around the same average that we have had since 2002. It’s not the highest we have had in the last five years, but it’s pretty much in the same range. However, the interest thing in that is when you look at the number of AIDS cases that are showing up and AIDS related deaths, those numbers are going down. That is expected given the fact that we now have more people on treatment.”

But prevention is better than treatment and today the Commission and the Prime Minister challenged Belizeans to look within for a solution.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“HIV is not spread by a small group of wicked persons determined to destroy our society. While it is true that some people are more at risk than others, HIV is largely spread by careless and carefree young and not so young people, by loving husbands and wives, by devoted mothers … it is always easier to find someone to blame than to take responsibility for ourselves.”

Kathy Esquivel
“If you want to know who is causing the problem of HIV and AIDS, just pick up a mirror, put it in front of you and look into it. We are all part of the problem, but we can all be part of the solution.”

Immediately after the appointment ceremony, the new commissioners got down to work by holding their first meeting. Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.