JAMAICA – LOCAL non-governmental organisations (NGOs) at the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS are now battling for their own survival as funding from international donors decrease. In 2023, US$19.8 billion was available for HIV programmes in low- and middle-income countries from international donors — nearly US$10 billion shy of the HIV funding target for 2025 — a 7.9 per cent decline since 2020.

The NGOs, which receive little or no support from the Jamaican Government, are seemingly victims of their own success as international donors look elsewhere while the Caribbean, and in particular Jamaica, wage a partially successful battle against HIV/AIDS even though the threat remains. According to UNAIDS, the number of new HIV infections in the Caribbean decreased by 15 per cent between 2010 and 2022, with declines stronger among men (18 per cent) than women (10 per cent). Similarly, AIDS-related deaths dropped by 53 per cent during this period, with a higher rate of decline among women (56 per cent) compared to men (51 per cent).

The Planning Institute of Jamaica’s 2023 Economic and Social Survey reports the country’s HIV treatment cascade (90-90-90) showed that 91.0 per cent of people with HIV were aware of their status; 53.0 per cent of people with HIV who knew their status were retained on HIV treatment; and 79.0 per cent of individuals with HIV who were on treatment were reported as being virally suppressed. This represents a sharp improvement over the past decade during which Jamaica also eliminated the mother-to-child transmission of HIV. (Jamaicaobserver)

Photo: Kandasi Walton-Levermore (centre), executive director of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), flanked by Machel Stewart (right), chairman of the JASL board, and Gervaise McLeod, board member, during the organisation’s annual candlelight vigil held on World AIDS Day, December 1 at St Andrew Parish Church Hall. (Photo: JASL)