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| TCI |
This was disclosed by Head of the National AIDS Programme, Aldora Robinson in an interview with The SUN this week.
According to Robinson, a decrease in new HIV cases was recorded in 2009, but since then there has not been any record against which to match that figure.
She is laying the dilemma at the foot of the National Health Insurance Board (NHIB)-run Cockburn Town Medical Centre in Grand Turk and the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre in Providenciales, which now manage data on those islands, having given responsibility for the labs.
“In 2009 we had a decrease (in new HIV cases), but we don’t have anything to match it against because in 2010 the new hospitals came on board, and we are having difficulties in getting the information from them. Our labs closed for a period of time because InterHealth’s (of Canada) lab kicked in, and they are not giving us the information right now. We are still trying to work out how we are going to get the information from them,” Robinson indicated.
According to her, the National AIDS Programme recorded 19 new cases in 2010 from clinics around the country, but found it difficult to get the relevant information from InterHealth Canada, to arrive at the final figure.
“So, we don’t have our stats for 2010 to compare, but from those that we know of, like from clinics around the islands, I can only say we have 19 cases so far. But of course you know that when we get the stats from InterHealth, it is going to be more than that. How much more? I cannot say,” she said.
In releasing the findings of a new report for the state of HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS Regional Director Cesar Nunez said the region has not registered any improvement in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS
He urged governments to increase efforts to combat the spread of HIV, suggesting that work should be focused on prevention among younger people and at schools.
“At this time of crisis, let us optimize the means and let us not fall into complacence,” he said.
Nunez, however, said the region has the “best coverage of medicine available to HIV carriers,” noting that about 51 percent of those living with the virus have access to HIV/AIDS medicine.
Meantime, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is urging world leaders to take bold decisions to tackle the AIDS epidemic, as he launched a new United Nations report that warns that recent gains, while laudable, are fragile.
The report, “Uniting for universal access towards zero HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths” comes 30 years into the AIDS epidemic and just months ahead of a high-level meeting of the General Assembly in June on the issue.
Sources: http://www.suntci.com
