Cayman joins in fight to end spread of AIDS by 2030
(CNS): After more than three decades of fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the world is witnessing signs that the spread of the disease is in real decline. The Cayman Islands is joining the rest of the world in marking World AIDS Day, which has the theme this year ‘On the Fast-Track to end AIDS by 2030’, by offering free testing this week at district clinics. Eighty-five people here are living with HIV/AIDS, as of 30 September. So far this year, five new patients have been diagnosed but no one has died as a result of the disease.
Although the numbers in Cayman remain low, the Caribbean region has the second largest infection rates in the world after Africa, making the islands still vulnerable. Hetrosexual sex accounts for the largest number of infections in Cayman at more than 58% and IV drug use accounting for the lowest at just over 2%. However official statistics reveal that more than 3% of people living with the disease do not know how they contracted the virus.
This year’s WAD theme about ending the AIDS epidemic is part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Almost 37 million people around the world live with HIV/AIDS and over 17 million don’t know they are infected. Around 22 million do not have access to HIV treatment, including 1.8 million children. Over the last three decades more than 36 million people have died as a result of the virus.
But new HIV infections have been reduced by 35% since the year 2000, with a 42% reduction in AIDS related deaths since the peak of 2004.
The world is halting and reversing the spread of HIV, according to the UNAIDS annual World AIDS Day Report, ‘On the Fast-Track to end AIDS by 2030: Focus on location and population’, released Tuesday 24 November.
“These global statistics are encouraging,” said Nurse Laura Elniski, HIV coordinator at the Health Services Authority (HSA). “These findings would therefore strongly suggest that we are indeed on the fast track to end the Global AIDS epidemic as this year’s focus suggests. Ending the Global AIDS epidemic is one crucial part of the sustainable Development Goals (#3 – Good health and wellbeing) of a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030.”
With massive improvements in the treatment and control of the disease, testing is increasingly important because the sooner patients are diagnosed with HIV, the easier it is to treat and prevent the onset of AIDS.
The HSA’s Public Health Department, the Cayman AIDS Foundation (CAF) and the Cayman Islands Red Cross (CIRC) have partnered this year to organize six days of free HIV/AIDS testing. These activities will be held throughout the week ending Friday 4 December. Free counselling is also on offer during this time. Special arrangements have been implemented to facilitate speed and confidentiality for HIV testing activities during the week’s observance. People seeking testing or counselling need to indicate to the registration clerks that they would like to register for free HIV screening.
As waiting time for testing is usually no more than 10 minutes, appointments are not necessary during this week. Patients must return to the clinic where the test was taken in order to retrieve their results. Results will be made available in three working days and only the patient is able to retrieve their results.
Free HIV screening is also offered year round each Tuesday at the Cayman Islands Red Cross (CIRC) at 10.00am.
For more information about HIV Testing Week, contact HIV/AIDS Coordinator Laura Elniski at 244-2507 or laura.elniski@hsa.ky or Health Promotion Officer, Therese Prehay at 244-2632 or therese.prehay@hsa.ky.
Category: Health, Medical Health
This is exactly where the government should spend money to protect and treat people against that disease instead of the billions of pies In the sky spent abroad.
when will they change the policy of moving infected residents from one district to another ?
We might bump this up by accepting all the Rapidtest methods of HIV screening and not continuing to waste money on lab tests. Over the counter FDA-approved HIV testing kits cost under $20 in the USA and are 99% accurate (that’s better than lab tests) but you can’t use them in Cayman Islands – I wonder why?
Can’t use them and or can’t import them? Legal to personally use them if imported? Where is it written or is this some secret CIG imposed policy? I wouldn’t trust HSA/CIG with my blood data as far as I could drool.
The over-the-counter self-testing kits were approved for sale in the UK nearly two years ago and what are described as ‘point-of-care’ (POC) tests are now being offered by the NHS throughout the UK so HSA really is dragging their feet here.
According to the NHS the only disadvantage of the POC kits is that the ‘window’ between exposure to the disease and it being detectable by a blood spot or saliva test can be slightly longer than it is with full blood. Against that the obvious advantage is you can offer a true ‘walk in’ service so re-testing is both cheap and easy.
There doesn’t seem to be any restriction on importing the kits into the Cayman Islands and I know that at least one doctor on the island has used them – it’s just that the HSA, CAF and CIRC all refuse to acknowledge this option.
I suspect it’s all down to money – the labs make way too much profit from the full blood tests to let anything like this interfere with their cosy little monopoly.
Jobs for the same wote-controlling families.
Please i want to know if Cayman offer free treatment for HIV positive patients if not why
You wonder why? For the same reason CIG vehicles past their useful life are being repaired.
A country that kicks out long term residents for being HIV+ is not at the vanguard of enlightened policy on this issue.