Dear Editor,

The United Nations Population Fund states that the Caribbean has the highest incidence rate of reported AIDS cases in the Americas. With between 350,000 and 590,000 Caribbean people living with HIV/AIDS, the region has an adult HIV prevalence rate between 1.9 per cent and 3.1 per cent, second only to Africa (7.5 per cent and 8.5 per cent). Of that number, 83 per cent know their status and 68 per cent are on treatment. However, only 57 per cent of people living with HIV are virally suppressed and thus have a reduced risk of transmitting the virus to their sexual partners.

As a whole, the Caribbean is facing a generalised epidemic. HIV/AIDS is well entrenched here, with a national prevalence of at least 1 per cent in 12 countries, all of them in the Caribbean Basin. The most recent estimates showed HIV prevalence among pregnant women reaching or exceeding 2 per cent in eight countries. Over 30,000 people are living with HIV in Jamaica. This is a significant per cent of the HIV population in the Caribbean region.

The high rate of HIV cases should serve as a wake-up call for those of us who live in the Caribbean. However, as we enter the fourth decade since the onset of the virus, many of us who are older may have dropped our guards since the days when HIV was viewed as a painful death sentence. That sense of urgency mixed with fear has been replaced with complacency as more modern medications have emerged to manage HIV/AIDS. The development of new antiretroviral treatments has transformed HIV infection into a chronic but manageable health condition. Additionally, mortality rates due to AIDS have fallen throughout developed and developing societies.

On December 1 the global community will commemorate World AIDS Day under the theme ‘Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response’, calling for sustained political leadership, international cooperation, and human-rights-centred approaches to end AIDS by 2030.

The World Health Organization states that after decades of progress the HIV response stands at a crossroads. Life-saving services are being disrupted and many communities face heightened risks and vulnerabilities. In 2025 a historic funding crisis is threatening to unravel decades of progress. Globally, HIV prevention services are severely disrupted. Here in Jamaica, given the displacement resulting from Hurricane Melissa, we must be mindful that sexual health is important in the recovery effort.

World AIDS Day provides the perfect opportunity for us to revisit the messaging, especially with the proliferation of social media. Those who are tasked with developing public education campaigns must be intentional regarding the targeted groups, as the HIV epidemic continues in large part unencumbered by formal public health and education programmes.

We must be mindful that in many spaces frequently grounded in patriarchy there is a thriving culture of misinformation surrounding HIV/AIDS which oftentimes receives much traction on social media. As a result, the myths and misconceptions must be countered with scientific data.

This World AIDS Day calls for transformative and culturally practical solutions to improve access to HIV services, eliminate stigma and discrimination once and for all, and ensure protection for the rights of women, girls, and other marginalised communities that continue to face disproportionate barriers in accessing health care.

On this World AIDS Day, gift yourself the peace of mind that comes with knowledge and find out your HIV status.

Wayne Campbell

Educator and social commentator

waykam@yahoo.com