KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Minister of Justice, Delroy Chuck, is calling on the region’s parliamentarians to scale up action in the fight against HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean.

Chuck said that priority must be given to tackling stigma and discrimination against people living with AIDS, and removing legal and social barriers that drive the epidemic underground and limit access to prevention and treatment.He said parliamentarians must also support and advance actions for social protection of people living with HIV, and become advocates and ambassadors for HIV and AIDS in their communities, constituencies and in the Parliament.He further urged support for human rights and social justice programmes; adoption of effective legal provisions addressing violence against women and girls; and development of social services, including shelters.Chuck was addressing the opening of the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP) Regional Parliamentarians Forum at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Tuesday.He welcomed the staging of the event, noting that it is a clarion call for leaders to get involved and stay involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. He said the disease has demonstrated the capacity to destabilise countries.Chuck said the biggest mistake would be to treat HIV/AIDS as solely a health issue. “The social determinants of HIV demand a response that transcends the boundaries of health sectors. We cannot address HIV and AIDS without addressing institutionalised discrimination (against) women, gender-based violence, poverty, social exclusion and inequality,” he noted.Meanwhile, Director of PANCAP, Dereck Springer said the involvement of parliamentarians is a critical component in reducing the incidence of HIV/AIDS in the region.He said that in order to achieve better outcomes for key populations, PANCAP will continue to engage parliamentarians “for involvement in every stage of the process for revising policies, allocating resources and holding governments accountable as a means of maximising outcomes”.Some 63 parliamentarians from several Caribbean countries attended the two-day forum, where they participated in discussions aimed at designing a strategy for the elimination of HIV/AIDS in the region by 2030.