USAID putting more resources into HIV/AIDS campaign

BY ALICIA DUNKLEY Observer staff reporter dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

THE head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Jamaica says that while sex education campaigns targeting adolescents are a positive move, the real target audience should be adults, especially middle-aged males who are forcing adolescents to engage in sex.

"I think it's fine to target adolescents with messages that they should postpone their sexual activities, but if they are not the ones in the driver's seat I tend to think our messages are a little misdirected," Dr Karen Hilliard told yesterday's weekly Monday Exchange meeting of Observer reporters and editors at the newspaper's Beechwood Avenue head office in Kingston.

"We are going to be working with the Ministry of Health to try to find more ways to get people to open up to the idea of being more sexually responsible," she said. "Rather than preaching to the victims of the situation, we ought to be talking a little more openly and honestly to people of all ages, to both genders, about what they need to do to protect themselves."

Added Hilliard: "It's one thing to tell adolescents they shouldn't have sex, but we found in our research that they are postponing their sexual activities longer, but it is coerced sex that's the problem for them and it's not with other young people, it's with middle-aged people, primarily middle-aged men."

Noting that this puts adolescents at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, Hilliard indicated USAID's intention to provide a total US$10.7 million this year to Jamaica under a Caribbean regional HIV/AIDS prevention programme.

"We are about to sign an agreement with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security for a variety of things, including prevention, reduction of stigma and discrimination and outreach to most vulnerable groups," she said.

Furthermore, she said, the funds will also assist with work on biological strengthening, and epidemiological studies.

"We are hoping that over the next four years we will up that amount. I am shooting to capture $5 million a year over the four years after fiscal year 2010," she added, noting that these amounts would complement other sources of funding for HIV/AIDS support programmes.

Dr Hilliard, in expressing concern at the prevalence of HIV in Jamaica with 1.8 per cent of the general population being infected, said a number of behaviours, and in particular sexual behaviours, "create a potentially explosive situation".

"Jamaica has managed to keep it somewhat under control because condom use is high here, but the incidence of things like intergenerational sex, sex for barter or money and a high level of stigmatisation against men who have sex with men forces it underground," she pointed out.

"In addition, one of the major drivers is multiple concurrent partners; one person gets affected and pretty soon everybody is," she said. "These are touchy issues to deal with from a societal level, but deal with them we must."