PANCAP Convenes Fourth Annual National AIDS Programme Managers and Key Partners Meeting

The Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Caribbean Office and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), will convene the Fourth Annual Meeting of National AIDS Programme Managers and Key Partners under the theme “Universal Access to HIV services in the Caribbean” at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad on 15-17 March 2016.

Hon. Mr Terrence Deyalsingh, Minister of Health, Trinidad and Tobago will deliver the opening address. Others speakers will be Dr Bernadette Theodore-Gandi, PAHO/WHO Representative, Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Shanti Singh-Anthony, National AIDS Programme Manager Guyana and National AIDS Programme Managers Representative on the PANCAP Governance bodies, and Mr Dereck Springer, Director, PANCAP Coordinating Unit, who will also chair the meeting. The meeting commences at 8.30am.

The National AIDS Programme (NAP) Managers and Key Partners meeting provides an opportunity for joint decision-making in setting programmatic priorities and partner contributions in order to strategically align efforts in the fight against HIV. The meeting agenda is intended to allow for in-depth analysis and discussion on the post 2015 agenda, and the overall advancements of the Caribbean region in implementing new initiatives for HIV. Within this context opportunities and challenges for the region and countries to expand the national response will be discussed with the overall aim to advance the Caribbean region. PANCAP acknowledges the need for greater attention to country-to-country linkages, greater collaboration with regional partners so as to maximise synergies, and for a mechanism which would bring regional public goods through national programmes to ensure on-the-ground impact.

NAP Managers and key national and regional partners will discuss the new WHO 2015 consolidated guidelines for the use of antiretroviral for the treatment and prevention of HIV and agree on the analysis required for determining the financial impact and resource needed for  the implementation of  the new WHO recommendation and the "care and treatment for all" in the Caribbean. The meeting will also discuss strategies for increasing domestic funding for sustainability of the HIV response and share best practices and cost effective models for prevention, treatment and care. The meeting will offer an opportunity to solicit inputs for the revision and validation of the new PAHO HIV/STI Plan 2016-2021 and the development of the Caribbean Cooperation in Health (CCH) IV.

Participants will include National AIDS Programme Managers from 20 countries, selected Chief Medical Officers, donors and regional partners and selected implementing partners, including civil society organisations.

PANCAP is a Caribbean regional partnership of governments, regional civil society organisations, regional institutions and organisations, bilateral and multilateral agencies and contributing donor partners which was established on 14 February 2001. PANCAP provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic, coordinates the response through the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS to maximise efficient use of resources and increase impact, mobilise resources and build capacity of partners.