HIV Haiti Meeting addresses HIV Response in the Caribbean

CIVIL SOCIETY Representative and Chair CRN+ Winfield Tannis-Abbott was among 75 persons from around the world who recenty participated in the International AIDS Society (IAS) and GHESKIO fully endorsed by the Programme National de Lutte contre le Sida (PNS, Haitian Ministry of Health and Population) held November 28 – 29, 2018 Port au Prince, Haiti.

The meeting was held under the Theme: “Retention in Care – PrEP – Tubercolosis, Science and Community the HIV Response in the Caribbean”.

The workshop saw key scientific and policy content from the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018 in Amsterdam was shared and discussed as well as implementation science priorities).

Specific topics included retention in antiretroviral therapy (ART), pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) implementation and co-morbidities (TB/MDR-TB). These scientific research results on the specific topic were discussed for policy and programme improvement in the Caribbean Region.

The workshop is part of regional meetings organized through the IAS Educational Fund to address the gap between HIV science and implementation. While the HIV response has made consideration progress, this gap remains a persistent challenge for effectively responding to the epidemic globally. The meeting targeted clinicians, healthcare providers, scientists, laboratory tecnicians, medical doctors and civil society representatives and international donor/funding agencies.

Tannis-Abbott sat on a panel discussion which focused on: “Rentention in Care”. He spoke on the topic: “What are the specificities of small Caribbean Islands in access and retention in care: Is the WHO target easier to reach since dealing with relatively small numbers of PLHIV?”.