The Fourth Meeting of the Project Management Group responsible for "Strengthening the Institutional Response to HIV/AIDS/STI in the Caribbean (SIRHASC)" will be held at the Sunset Shores Hotel in St. Vincent and the Grenadines from 6-7 June 2002.

The meeting will be coordinated by the Project Implementation Unit located within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana, and will be attended by representatives of the five (5) Implementing agencies: the Caribbean Epidemiological Centre (CAREC); the Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC); the Caribbean Regional Network of persons living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+); the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); and the University of the West Indies (UWI).

The two-day meeting will, among other things, review the accomplishments of the Project after its initial phase of operation between 1 July 2001 and 30 April 2002. A financial report on the just concluded work programme will also be tabled.

The meeting, which will be convened under the chairmanship of Dr. James St. Catherine, Programme Manager, Health Sector Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, will also develop and seek approval for a detailed Plan to guide execution of the new Work Programme, which runs from 1 May to 31 December 2002.

The SIRHASC Project will run for three years, utilizing European Union funding in the amount of Euros 6.9 million.

Executed by the CARICOM Secretariat, the Project seeks to reduce the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS/STI in all 15 Caribbean countries, which are members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) grouping. Mr. Carl Browne is the Project Manager.