As Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), I take note that this year UNAIDS Day is dedicated to the problem of HIV/AIDS particularly as it affects women and girls. This focus is most appropriate since it reminds us that our women and girls, especially those between the ages of 15-24, are among the most vulnerable to the disease.

Recent studies indicate that the prevalence rate of infection among females between 15 and 24 years continues to increase from approximately seven per cent in 2000 to more than 12 percent in 2004. In fact, the rate of HIV/AIDS infection among young women exceeds that of males in the same age range by two to one. What this means is that while we need to accelerate the fight against HIV/AIDS with great resolve, special attention must be paid to the plight of our women and girls, and that every effort must be made to reverse this trend.

These efforts must involve dealing effectively with sexual abuse and inequity in sexual relationships, problems which contribute to this stark reality of persistent gender inequality in the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS. This reality translates into many serious implications including mother to child transmission, stigma and discrimination not only against persons infested, but also against entire families and communities. In the final analysis the high social costs are enormous.

The focus on women and girls this UNAIDS Day provides us in CARICOM with an opportunity to advocate for drastic changes in this male-female equation and to resolve to embark on preventive actions to stem the tide of this disease and its impact on both males and females. These are our precious human resources without whom our endeavours in the coming year- designated as 'The Year of the Single Market' - would be clouded in gloom rather than radiate with optimism.

Only one week ago CARICOM, the Government of the United Kingdom and a host of regional stakeholders drawn from parliamentarians, business persons, cultural icons, representatives of faith-based organizations, youth movements, community organizations and persons living with HIV/AIDS, at a meeting in St. Kitts, pledged as Champions for Change to fight against HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. Let us use today-World AIDS Day - to renew and expand that pledge, as partners in the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), to stamp out the spread of HIV/AIDS among our women and girls and by extension, among our populations. Let us be truly Champions for Change in this worthy venture.