Community empowerment critical in fight against HIV/AIDS

The empowerment of communities adequately staffed and resourced is critical to the success in the fight against HIV/AIDS, according to Executive Director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition Ivan Cruickshank, who is also chair of the Jamaica Country Coordinating Mechanism.

Cruickshank used Friday’s annual observation of World AIDS Day, at The Summit in New Kingston, to show why this year’s global theme, ‘Let Communities Lead’, and the theme for the forum, ‘Reimagining and Transforming the HIV response through the Lenses of Communities’, are both so relevant in tackling the disease.

“Within the CCM, we have seen communities demonstrate in very clear terms how the HIV response in Jamaica should be guided. They have brought to the table information data and their own lived experiences and brought that to bear on the decisions we make about the programmes that we shape for them. And that has been instrumental to some of the changes that we have seen in the length of time people were able to live and the way that people adhere to their medication,” he disclosed.

“Community leadership works. It has been very clear in our own context that it works, whether in HIV or in broader social change, and I want us to commit that this call for leadership of communities will not end after World AIDS Day. This is something that we have to make a central part of how we do business if we are to achieve the 95-95-95 targets,” he added.

The 95-95-95 target speaks to the global goal of 95 per cent of the people who are living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 95 per cent of the people who know that they are living with HIV being on lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, and 95 per cent of people on treatment being virally suppressed.

A report released by UNAIDS in July shows that the goal of ending AIDS as a public-health threat by 2030 is achievable and outlines the path to getting there. The report, ‘The Path that Ends AIDS’, contains data and case studies which highlight that ending AIDS is a political and financial choice and that the countries and leaders who are already following the path are achieving extraordinary results.

According to the report, HIV responses succeed when they are anchored in strong political leadership. This means following the data, science, and evidence; tackling the inequalities holding back progress; enabling communities and civil society organisations in their vital role in the response; and ensuring sufficient and sustainable funding. It points out further that progress has been strongest in the countries and regions that have the most financial investments, such as in eastern and southern Africa where new HIV infections have been reduced by 57 per cent since 2010.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com