Kangaloo calls for war against AIDS

MINISTER Christine Kangaloo yesterday called for society to mobilise for war—against HIV/AIDS which has infected an estimated 30,000 people in TT.

Addressing last night’s 20th International AIDS candlelight memorial at the courtyard of the Eric Williams Financial Complex, Kangaloo said the war was for TT’s future and the rallying cries must be “care, not fear” and dignity not denial. She called for a single-minded approach to win the war against the disease. There is no medical vaccine to combat the virus, but Kangaloo said a “social vaccine” — behaviour change has been proven to be successful in reducing transmission and changing the course of the epidemic. “We need to empower and entrust our people and our communities to develop mechanisms and organisations which will drive home this critical message of prevention.” Apart from prevention she admitted that care and treatment had to be “stepped up.”

Kangaloo said government’s National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan is an expanded response which builds on existing initiatives, and coordinates and prioritises activities. The group Advocates for Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (AYSRHR) has been criticised for making condoms available to sexually active youths, but HIV positive people cannot get access to them at government-funded Queen’s Park Counselling Centre and Clinic. This “contradiction” was highlighted by Dr Amery Browne, Chairman of the Community Action Resource.

Browne said Sven Miki Grant from AYSRHR was vilified for distributing condoms at the Woodbrook Government Sec-ondary school, but many children in TT were sexually active and potential victims of ignorance. “We fail to accept the reality that our children of secondary school age and primary school age are experimenting with sex. Do we prefer those who make that choice experiment with safer sex or unprotected sex?” Browne said people did not have to agree with the method to accept the message. “It is time we stop shooting the messenger and heeding the message.” Browne called for all to dare to care in the fight against stigma and discrimination.