Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, Secretary-General of theCaribbean Community (CARICOM), on Wednesday held discussions with Ambassador Deborah Birx, M.D., U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator/Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, U.S. Presidential Emergency Plan for HIV Relief (PEPFAR). The Secretary-General and Ambassador Birx met on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

As the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Birx oversees the implementation of PEPFAR, as well as all U.S. Government engagement with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the US State Department said. As the U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, she aligns the U.S. Government’s diplomacy with foreign assistance programmes that address global health challenges and accelerate progress toward: achieving an AIDS-free generation; ending preventable child and maternal deaths; and preventing, detecting, and responding to infectious disease threats.