-Ramsammy urges religious leaders as World AIDS Day launched
Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said yesterday that Guyana’s HIV/AIDS progress continues to be hindered by persons living in denial of being at risk and he called on religious leaders to preach condom use.
Still emotional over the fire that wrecked his ministry close to a week ago, Ramsammy struggled to compose himself minutes after approaching the podium to speak at the launch of World AIDS Day yesterday under the theme, ‘Universal Access and Human Rights’.
The event coincided with the launching of the ‘Guyana National HIV Prevention Principles, Standards and Guidelines’ and also the launch of the ‘Put it on’ HIV prevention campaign.
It was the Health Minister’s first official appearance since the incident and he was quick to point out that he now “has no home to go to”. Ramsammy emphasized that the ministry was faced with the question of whether to go ahead with the launch of World AIDS Day, but recalled that he urged the staff to “put it on” in keeping with the theme this year.
“…Neither storm nor fire will prevent us from being by our people’s side and providing the services that we were trained to provide, that we have the ability to provide and that we will provide to the best of our ability and go beyond the call of duty to provide,” Ramsammy said.
The ‘Put it on’ campaign advocates greater condom use and will form part of a national campaign to sensitize communities about the importance of regular condom use.
The theme was conceptualized around a calypso penned by Roger Hinds popularly known as ‘Young Bill Rogers’.
Ramsammy yesterday focused his comments on what he described as the misconception in the society that HIV/AIDS campaigns target specific persons because “they are vulnerable”. He firmly started that every citizen is at risk and therefore vulnerable to contracting the disease.
He said that the message ‘Put it on’ is not directed to a vulnerable population, noting that they are not talking to men who have sex with men and or simply to commercial sex workers, but that they are addressing the entire populace.
“…we are talking to every citizen in our country, every man and woman, boy and girl, which is what the message is for and not for one section of the population so let’s stop this nonsense!” Ramsammy declared.
Condoms protect lives, Ramsammy said, stating that this particular message is especially for religious leaders. He said that condom use is not “an unreligious thing”. Ramsammy said too that he is optimistic religious leaders will soon be saying to their congregations, “Put it on”.
Further, he noted that persons who continue to shun getting tested contribute to weaknesses in the system. He said also that persons who fail to follow the campaigns and miss the messages about HIV/AIDS and its impact are also part of the weakest links in the fight.
Prior to yesterday’s launch, Ramsammy had hailed the successes of the local Prevention-of-mother-to-child (PMTCT) programme.
He had disclosed that initially between 5-7 percent of pregnant mothers at clinics across the country were HIV positive, but that the number is currently at 1.1 percent as of December 2008.
He had said then that 30 to 40 out of every 100 pregnant mothers would have given birth to HIV positive babies a few years ago and today the number is down to between 2 and 4 mothers.
Ramsammy stated that when government had announced universal treatment for persons living with HIV in 2002 persons were openly skeptical, however more than 70 percent of people placed on treatment in April that year are still living productive lives today.
Dr Shanti Singh, Head of the National AIDS Pro-gramme Secretariat (NAPS) also spoke at the launch. She said that much focus is being placed on the younger population given that the early adolescent years between 10-14 years is a time when enduring patterns of healthy behaviour can be established. She added that this is easier than changing risky behaviour already entrenched.
Pointing to statistics she said that in Guyana almost 3 percent of HIV notified cases for 2008 have been persons between the ages 15-19 years while the vast majority (82 percent) is between 20-49 years.
Singh said that it is unclear what proportion of the 82 percent had been infected at an earlier age.
She said that reducing infection among young people is a challenge, but emphasized that it should be faced head-on, adding that there is concrete evidence in every country where HIV transmission has been reduced of there also being an impressive reduction of rates among the youth.
UNAIDS Country Director, Dr Ruben del Prado briefly commented that Guyana is making good progress in the areas of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. But he pointed to the PMTCT programme saying that it is on track, adding that deaths due to AIDS are down, dramatically.
Dr del Prado noted that the 2009-2010 theme challenges discriminatory laws, policies and practices that stand in the way of access for all to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
He said that obstacles to progress must be overcome to achieve the goal of universal access.
“In Guyana, except for the outdated and archaic colonial laws that criminalise same sex sensuality and sex work, everything is in place to achieve this universal access,” he said.
