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UNGASS bowled for nought by cricket

By Pauline Ngunjiri

Kittitians and Nevisians’ greatest excitement as the UNGASS + 5 UN Special HIV/AIDS review meeting was going on was the cricket match between India and West Indies . UNGASS went by almost unnoticed or discussed.

Local newspapers carried a few articles on the deliberations, but there was no visible on-the-ground activity by the various sectors. In St. Kitts and Nevis , the burden of tackling the epidemic continues to be shouldered by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Two delegates from the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis , Prime Minister, Dr Denzil Douglas and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health Mr Elvis Newton were part of the 50- member delegation from the Caribbean region to the meeting. Dr Douglas spoke on behalf of the Caribbean delegation at the UN meeting.

He confirmed that through a Brazil/CARICOM/PANCAP Agreement signed in St. Kitts and Nevis in April 2006, Brazil has offered ARVs to the OECS countries free of cost. St. Kitts and Nevis are OECS member countries and everyone who tests positive will have access to ARVs. Universal access was among the demands members of civil societies from all over the world emphasised during the UNGASS review meeting and the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis seem to have met this target.

Dr. Douglas in his presentation admitted that legislative reforms are key to greater involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).

“There is the critical issue of Human Rights of PLWHA which demands that legislative reforms be given priority.”

NONEXISTENT SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT

According to the St. Kitts and Nevis country report, there has been little progress in the creation of supportive environments that protect the human rights of persons infected and affected by HIV. National policies denounce compulsory testing for general employment purposes however, mandatory testing is still required for enrolment in the armed forces, by non nationals who require a work permit and those applying for citizenship.

There is no legal redress for PLWHAs who have experienced discrimination. Currently, no mechanism exists to report and investigate discrimination experienced by PLWHAs.

Through, the PANCAP Project on HIV/AIDS, Law Ethics and Human Rights, a comprehensive national assessment of HIV/AIDS related laws and policies was to be conducted in 2005. Although funding was available, the review was not done because of the unavailability of a legal consultant to spearhead the process.

Dr. Douglas said that for PLWHAs to be involved and to participate fully, all stakeholders would need to be on board. Unfortunately, the St. Kitts based HIV/AIDS Council and its counterpart Nevis HIV/AIDS Committee (NEHAC), organisations created to coordinate a multisectoral approach to fight HIV/AIDS are not functioning.

The response has been driven by the Ministry of Health while the National Strategic Plan embodies a multi-sectoral response. The country report reports that, “it has been particularly challenging maintaining interest and engaging non health sectors in the planning and implementation of HIV/AIDS related activities. To date, sectoral plans from key line ministries have not been submitted and the Ministry of Health remains the key implementer of activities.”

The Prime Minister is convinced that greater visibility of PLWHA will only be a reality by building the capacity of PLWHA organisations. But to succeed in this capacity building exercise, Ministries of Health in St. Kitts and Nevis will need to find the solution to the obstacles that has created denial of the existence of HIV/AIDS by civil society.

The Chairperson of the Chamber of Commerce, Nevis branch, Gregg Phillip, suggested that information on how many persons are living with HIV be disseminated widely and clearly, “has that information been communicated clearly?,” he asked.

Elvis Newton, Permanent Secretary (PS) MOH who accompanied the Prime Minister said he was impressed while participating at UNGASS, “at the extent to which countries are able to engage meaningful participation of the civil society.”

“Our civil society groups are weak, we need to build their capacity so they can be meaningful partners in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” Newton said a few days after he came back from the New York meeting.

Although civil society was to a certain extent consulted when the Country Report was put together, resistance to active participation of the civil society in policy, decision-making including the preparation of the UNGASS progress report is an issue that should concern the government.

At the UN special review meeting other weaknesses raised were the lack of support for independent monitoring and research by civil society organisations and lack of understanding of the Declaration of Commitment (DoC).