While the number of HIV cases is falling in the Caribbean, the infection rate is climbing among the region’s youth.
This is according to the Chair of the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS Executive Board and Guyana’s Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, as he addressed the opening ceremony of the meeting of the National AIDS Programme Managers and Key Partners on Wednesday.
“While deaths have fallen dramatically, we have seen new infections, and they are not declining as fast as we would like them to be in the region. So right now there are about 15,000 persons who are getting infected every year, and perhaps what is even more troubling is that one in four of these new infections occur in the ages between 15 and 24 years.”
Dr. Anthony noted that fewer dollars are being directed toward the Caribbean region for AIDS-related funding.
“We are seeing a change in the financing landscape, and one of the organisations, one of the international organisations that was set up specially to help fight against HIV, TB and malaria, the funding is now dissipating.”