The Montego Bay office of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL) is in urgent need of a volunteer medical doctor with experience in treating HIV.

“We are badly in need of a doctor because after this doctor is gone we don’t know where we stand,” said JASL’s public education officer Lennessa Blake.

It is not certain if Dr Merissa Taylor, who picked up where the organisation’s Dr Eva Seither left off in January, will extend her service beyond the end of February.

JASL provides care for people with HIV, through bi-monthly clinics as an alternative for clients who might be stigmatised if they attend a public health facility.

“Clients feel more comfortable coming here than going to public hospitals where they are stigmatised,” noted Blake.

Dorett Smith, support services co-ordinator at JASL, said the necessity for a doctor experienced in treating HIV was critical.

“We need a medical doctor with experience in the field of HIV treatment because clients are sensitive about which doctors they go to,” she said.

The JASL has been operating since 1999. Seither, a German, subsequently came on board and voluntarily served the institution for 13 years.

According to the JASL, Seither never asked for any kind of compensation for her services. On leaving, Seither said that her years of service represented her most important accomplishment in life.

“Money isn’t everything. It’s about how you feel about what you are doing,” she said.

Many of her clients expressed gratitude for her services.

“Dr Seither was the one who placed me back on my feet. I have been a client with JASL for five years now,” said one client confidently.

JASL has been keeping its fingers crossed, hoping that Taylor will stay on for a while longer or that another volunteer doctor will soon come on board.