It is indeed an honour for me to Chair this opening session and PANCAP III and even moreso a pleasure to extend greetings to you all on behalf of the Secretary General and staff of the CARICOM Secretariat and the PANCAP Coordinating Unit.
Permit me to take this opportunity to make some general remarks as well as to update this gathering on the progress of PANCAP and so indications for the future.
The Context of PANCAP_ Creating Global Partnerships for development
I send you all very fond greetings and best wishes on the occasion of the 3rd Annual General Meeting of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS. PANCAP as it is affectionately known, is a very special mechanism endorsed by the Heads of Government of CARICOM as a pillar of the Nassau Declaration which emphasised that the āhealth of the region is the wealth of the Region".
The Honourable Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy; Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary General, Human and Social Development, Caribbean Community Secretariat; Dr. Morris Edwards, National HIV/AIDS Coordinator; PANCAP/CARICOM officials; participants; Distinguished Guests_
Under the theme Many Partners Building One Initiative the CARICOMāled Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) holds its Third Annual General Meeting on 12 and 13 November in Georgetown, Guyana.
The Second Regional Training Workshop for National Assessments on HIV/AIDS, Law, Ethics and Human Rights takes place on 7-11 November 2003 in Georgetown, Guyana.
Eight CARICOM proposals were approved by the Board of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) at its Sixth Meeting, which runs from 15-17 October 2003, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The successful proposals are from Guyana and Haiti, two each; Belize, Jamaica, the OECS and the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), one proposal each.
Mr. Chairman
Incoming Chairman of the COHSOD, Minister Lawrence Achong
Other Honourable Ministers of Government
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Representatives of International and Regional organizations, especially Ms. Grace Strauchan, Regional Director of the ILO, who is attending her first meeting of the COHSOD
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media
Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
The Caribbean Commission on Health and Development (CCHD) was launched on Monday, 22 September 2003, in Washington DC. United States.
The goal of the CCHD is to give substance to the 2001 Nassau Declaration The Health of the Region is the Wealth of the Region. In this regard, the Commission will be responsible for providing the guidelines for action to increase investment in health in the Caribbean Community.
The Region has been asked to eradicate the stigma attached to the HIV/AIDS virus, in order to create a more supporting environment for persons infected with the disease and furthermore to encourage the general public to get tested.
At the just concluded second annual meeting of the Pan Caribbean Partnership (PANCAP) for HIV/AIDS, held this week, in Georgetown, Guyana, members noted that HIV/AIDS discrimination was the single most devastating factor contributing to the social isolation of victims and thus increasing the spread of the epidemic.
The Project Management Group (PMG) for the projectĀ āStrengthening the Institutional Response to HIV/AIDS/STI in the Caribbeanā (SIRHASC) is due to meet later this week in Saint Lucia to assess efforts at building the RegionāsĀ capability to combat the dreaded diseases. The Project Management Group of five regional institutions will also fine-tune a range of activities slated for next year, completing the three-year programme of cooperation among these institutions.