Listen, learn and live
Editorial
THE theme for World AIDS Day today is `Listen, learn and live' and it is the correct focus for an issue that is rapidly becoming cause for rising concern in Guyana and the Caribbean. In a statement on the occasion, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, Mr Edwin Carrington said one of the major threats to the region's human development efforts is the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He noted that following a review of the situation in the Caribbean in June last year, a task force, under the chairmanship of the CARICOM Secretariat, has been established "to chart a renewed effort through an expanded response to combat the rapidly growing epidemic." According to Mr Carrington, a regional strategic plan is being developed by the task force to guide the review of national plans. "The labour sector has a critical role to play in this effort and is encouraged to develop holistic workplace health programmes with a specific thrust on the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. "It is also critical for the sector to participate in the main bodies dealing with the problem at the national and regional levels", he suggested. Guyana, as a member of CARICOM, will feature in the regional scheme to cope with the epidemic. Advocates of a firmer approach to AIDS/HIV by the Commonwealth did not get as much as they had lobbied heads of government for at the summit in Durban, South Africa, earlier this month and CARICOM members would have to pool their resources to try to guard against the impact of the problem. Full participation by critical sectors is vital to any campaign and there would seem to be much merit in the regional strategic plan being developed by CARICOM. As Mr Carrington notes, at the end of last year, 19 of the 21 member states served by the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre, had reported an accumulated number of 12,686 cases of AIDS or 172 cases per 100,000 population. "This means that in 1998 these states had to the fastest incidence of reported AIDS cases in the Americas and the fastest growing prevalence rate after Sub-Saharan Africa", he said. The statistics show that 83 per cent of those cases were in the age group 15-54 years, with 50 per cent being in the group 25-34 years. "Since it may take as long as 10 years to convert from HIV infection to AIDS, this means that our young people are especially at risk", Mr Carrington noted. As we have commented before, assessments of the dreaded disease here have not been comforting and there is still a lot of work to be done before national awareness of the epidemic becomes effective. Survey information indicates "that we have a far way to go as 76 per cent of the labour sector indicated that they have taken no specific steps to create the necessary supportive environment", according to the CARICOM Secretary General. It is evident, he said, that the workplace is a critical focus for any meaningful programme to deal with the epidemic. Full participation by all sectors is imperative in the development of plans to deal with this terrible disease and the `Listen, learn and live' message of today is a rallying call to be heeded.
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