Why were Health Minister and senior officials not at AIDS Awareness Walk?

Dear Editor,

Saturday, November 25, 2017 saw a large contingent of Guyanese and a few foreigners take to the streets of Georgetown for the annual AIDS Awareness Walk. Interestingly there was little or no hype about this activity, and yet it attracted a large turnout.

The disappointment however was that those who attended were unable to hear from the Minister of Public Health as to the way forward in the fight against HIV/AIDS. What was even more unfortunate was that there was no senior functionary from the Health Ministry to demonstrate strong political will and leadership, especially to those who are living with the deadly virus which was detected in Guyana for the first time in 1987.

The national AIDS Programme must be commended for a great job well done to bring people from all walks of life together to make this event a successful one, and it was great to see members of the LGBTI community and Persons Living with AIDS contributing to the large attendance without the politicians.

Congratulations to the NAPS for a job well done

Yours faithfully,

Brian Singh