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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRIDGETOWN 001780 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/GAC, OES/IHA AND WHA/CAR 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
HHS FOR CDC-WSTEIGER 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O.  12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID TBIO KHIV BB XL
SUBJECT:  BRIDGETOWN HOSTS SUCCESSFUL 2006 REGIONAL CHIEFS OF 
MISSION CONFERENCE ON HIV/AIDS 
 
 
¶1.  On September 26-27, Embassy Bridgetown hosted the Fifth Regional 
Chiefs of Mission Conference on HIV/AIDS.  The conference brought 
together U.S. ambassadors and officials from ten embassies, as well 
as representatives from Washington and the Caribbean region.  The 
conference reviewed the progress made over the past five years, and 
focused on strategies to sustain the momentum and overcome the 
remaining challenges in the region. 
 
RECENT PROGRESS 
--------------- 
 
¶2.  Conference participants from all sectors recognized the 
significant progress achieved in the last five years in combating 
HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean.  The region and donors, both bilateral 
and multilateral, have increased resources to support the region's 
fight against HIV/AIDS.  According to Ambassador Mark Dybul, the 
Global AIDS Coordinator, the United States provided USD 250 million 
in bilateral HIV/AIDS assistance to the Caribbean during the period 
2004-2006.  In addition, the United States remains the largest donor 
to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, 
providing 30 percent of all contributions. 
 
¶3.  Improved regional cooperation in the fight against HIV/AIDS is 
another factor in the region's progress.  Both Barbados' Minister of 
State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, the Hon. 
Kerrie Symmonds and Carl Browne, Director of the Pan-Caribbean 
Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), highlighted PANCAP as the 
principal vehicle for regional coordination on HIV/AIDS.  They noted 
PANCAP's success in fostering cooperation, strengthening the 
region's training and education focused on HIV/AIDS, and mobilizing 
resources to support programs.  In the last five years, PANCAP has 
evolved into a pan-Caribbean coordinating mechanism with over 70 
members from a variety of sectors.  Other regions are now looking at 
PANCAP as a possible model for their efforts. 
 
¶4.  In an overview of U.S. programs in the region, U.S. Ambassadors 
and other participants described a number of innovative programs 
designed to break down prejudices, reach wider audiences, and 
provide assistance to the most vulnerable.  Skits, song and verse 
competitions, plays, radio dramas, walk-a-thons, quilt projects, and 
billboard campaigns are only few of the projects our embassies have 
supported through the Ambassador's Small Grants Program in an effort 
to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS. 
 
REMAINING CHALLENGES 
-------------------- 
 
¶5.  While the region has made significant advances in the fight 
against HIV/AIDS, the Caribbean continues to have the second highest 
HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the world, after sub-Saharan Africa.  As 
Minister Symmonds noted during his address, HIV/AIDS continues to 
kill more than 100 people per day in the region.  Other conference 
participants painted a similarly grim picture:  In Barbados, 
HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death for the 15 to 40 year-old age 
group.  In Jamaica, it is the second leading killer overall and the 
leading cause of death for children aged 1 to 4.  In Haiti, 14 
HIV-positive children are born each day.  HIV/AIDS has also created 
a "tidal wave of orphans" around the world. 
 
¶6.  The devastating human costs of this disease also have broader 
implications.  Minister Symmonds called HIV/AIDS a national security 
threat.  Other conference participants noted the threat posed by 
HIV/AIDS to the region's economies.  The region's small, mainly 
island-based economies are already more vulnerable to external 
shocks such as natural disasters or changes in the global economic 
outlook.  HIV/AIDS further threatens to undermine their economic 
stability by holding the potential of devastating their work forces. 
 Furthermore, with the region's increasing integration, borders have 
become more porous and populations more mobile, making the 
containment of HIV/AIDS increasingly difficult. 
 
¶7.  Another challenge that continues to plague the region is the 
stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS.  While awareness 
of HIV/AIDS has risen throughout the Caribbean, stigmatization and 
discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS continue to 
hamper the region's efforts.  For example, Brenda La Grange Johnson, 
the U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, noted that a recent survey of 
Jamaican companies found that 13 percent of them would not hire 
applicants infected by HIV.  Dr. Carol Jacobs, Chairman of the 
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, provided 
another startling statistic:  40 percent of Barbadians would be 
 
BRIDGETOWN 00001780  002 OF 003 
 
 
unwilling to tell their partner if they were infected with HIV, and 
only 10 percent of Barbadians are willing to be tested. 
 
¶8.  Conference participants discussed several other challenges 
hampering the region's efforts against HIV/AIDS, including the lack 
of focus on prevention, inadequate infrastructure, brain drain, and 
unreliable data.   The lack of human resources and technical 
capacity has also been manifest in the areas of crisis management 
and strategic planning. 
 
MAINTAINING THE MOMENTUM 
------------------------ 
 
¶9.  All participants agreed that the key to continued progress 
against HIV/AIDS was sustained public attention to this issue. 
CDC's Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick urged the Ambassadors and other mission 
staff to work with her to ensure that the First Lady's proposal for 
an International AIDS Testing Day becomes a reality and a success in 
the region.  A number of Ambassadors agreed to be publicly tested 
and to seek high-level participation from the governments to which 
they are accredited.  Conference participants also agreed that 
enhanced public diplomacy efforts should be coupled, where 
appropriate, with quiet, behind-the-scenes advocacy and engagement 
with local political leaders, NGOs, and the private sector.  Another 
new resource in the area of public affairs is the Caribbean 
Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS, which was launched in May 
¶2006.  The Partnership's Chairman, Dr. Allyson Leacock, reported on 
the organization's goals and commitments, including member 
broadcasters' current commitment to program as much as 30 seconds 
per hour of free HIV/AIDS-related messaging.  Dr. Leacock also 
discussed a number of innovative approaches for raising awareness 
among wider audiences, especially youth, by working with DJ's and 
celebrities, using "product-placement" strategies, and embedding 
HIV/AIDS-related messages in video games. 
 
¶10.  Improving coordination among governments, donors, NGOs, and the 
private sector will continue to be important.  With increasing labor 
mobility and 40 million tourists visiting the region every year, the 
Caribbean must continue its efforts to pool resources and harmonize 
information.  As the region prepares for the Cricket World Cup, 
which will take place in March and April 2007, this coordination 
will become even more critical.  To assist the region in its 
coordination efforts, the participants discussed creating matrices 
summarizing available resources, including human resources, 
throughout the region.  Other suggestions included involving 
universities, specifically law schools and public health schools, in 
pursuing technical, legal, and statistical research and thus 
overcoming the governments' lack of qualified personnel.  To 
maximize the USG's "bang for the buck" and avoid duplication, U.S. 
missions could catalogue the resources developed through U.S. 
government funding, such as radio dramas, plays, and commercials, 
and share them across the region.  Creating a chatroom and/or a 
listserv may also foster greater coordination of U.S. strategies and 
resources. 
 
¶11.  Another area where U.S. Ambassadors and missions can play an 
important role is in seeking high-level engagement from Caribbean 
governments on HIV/AIDS issues.  Conference participants agreed that 
overcoming the discrimination and stigma associated with HIV/AIDS 
must start with the countries' leaders, who can set an example and 
include awareness programs in legislation and education.  In this 
regard, Dr. Jacobs applauded the initiative of Barbados' Prime 
Minister Owen Arthur, who moved the HIV/AIDS portfolio from the 
Ministry of Health to his office to ensure that HIV/AIDS work 
received central focus from his government.  In addition, he tasked 
each ministry with establishing an HIV/AIDS sectoral plan to ensure 
that the fight against HIV/AIDS was a priority for the entire 
government of Barbados. 
 
TOWARD 2010 AND BEYOND 
---------------------- 
 
¶12.  While the challenge of HIV/AIDS remains daunting, the 
discussions during the conference showed that the efforts of the 
region, the United States and other donors, as well as the NGOs and 
the private sector, have already yielded positive results over the 
past five years.  As we look toward 2010 and beyond, the U.S. 
ambassadors and their missions in the Caribbean should seek to lock 
in these gains, move beyond pilot projects toward sustainable and 
sustained programs, and continue on the path of progress. 
 
 
BRIDGETOWN 00001780  003 OF 003 
 
 
GILROY