The Caribbean region could be the first in the world to eliminate HIV by the year 2030, according to the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Carissa Etienne.
Dr. Etienne, who was on her first official visit to Dominica, said during a press conference last Tuesday 7 July 2015, that there are positive signs of the elimination of HIV in the region.
However, Dr. Etienne advised that it is critical that there are no new cases of the virus.
“To eliminate HIV we will have to improve prevention and promotions so we don’t get any new cases,” Dr. Etienne said.
The same sentiments were echoed by Premier the Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing as the TCI prepares itself for more promotions & preventions by 2020.
“We need to improve the diagnosis and we need to diagnose them early and we need to have access to treatment and monitoring of those and we believe that the region can be one of the first to achieve elimination of HIV certainly by then,” Premier Ewing said.
Last week PAHO and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Cuba as the first country in the world to eliminate the transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis from mother to child.
