2004 Press Releases

U.S. Working Hard in Battle Against HIV/AIDS

December 1, 2004

by Ambassador Roy L. Austin

World AIDS Day is December 1. The people of the United States, through President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, are privileged to be a partner with the people of Trinidad and Tobago in building a future free from HIV and AIDS.

More than 2 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean, including an estimated 250,000 that contracted HIV during the past year. At least 120,000 people died of AIDS in the same time period - the highest regional death toll after sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

World AIDS Day serves to focus global attention on the continuing epidemic and this year’s World AIDS Day focuses on women and girls. In Latin America and the Caribbean, more men than women are infected with HIV, but the difference in prevalence rates among men and women is decreasing steadily, indicating that women are becoming infected at a higher rate than men.

Women are particularly vulnerable to contracting the disease. Practices such as cross-generational sex, male infidelity, commercial sex work, and sex trafficking fuel the spread of the virus. Rape and sexual violence also put women in grave danger of becoming infected. Once infected, women pass HIV to their children through pregnancy and childbirth.

Even when not infected themselves, women bear the burden of HIV/AIDS, as they often times are responsible for caring for the sick and orphans, putting their own futures and their livelihoods at risk. Many girls become heads of households while still children, limiting their potential for development.

Under President Bush’s US $15 billion Emergency Plan, the American people are helping the world meet these challenges. Two countries in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti and Guyana, have been selected as “focus” countries under the Emergency Plan and are receiving almost $30 million in funding for 2004. The majority of the other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean also receive US funding to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic from various US agencies, including the Agency for International Development, Department of Human and Health Services, and Department of Defense.

Here in Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. Embassy and the Trinidad-based regional office of the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), partner with government ministries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and local community organizations to increase awareness of the risks of HIV/AIDS and to promote understanding of the virus. Efforts on this front include the 2003 Ambassador’s Song and Verse Contest, the funding of the 2004 HIV awareness program in Tobago by the community workshop Atelier, and CDC’s Ambassador’s fund for HIV, which provides small grants for specific projects to local organizations.

The President’s Emergency Plan and other U.S. Government programs focus on preventing new infections, bringing lifesaving therapy, and caring for those infected and affected by the disease, including orphans and vulnerable children. The American people have invested $2.4 billion in the fight this year – more than all other donor governments combined.

During the Summit of the Americas in January 2004, and as part of the World Health Organization’s “3 by 5” initiative, leaders of the Western Hemisphere adopted a U.S. proposal to provide anti-retroviral therapy to 600,000 people living with HIV and AIDS in the region by 2005. We have made significant progress in meeting this goal—more than any other region in the world—and are on track to meet it before the established deadline.

Because women are disproportionately affected, making prevention, treatment, and care broadly available is the most important thing we can offer women. We develop programs with women in mind – and ensure that they are included.

One focus is preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The U.S. quickly trained 14,700 health workers and built capacity at over 900 different health care sites to prevent this tragedy.

In addition, the American people are partnering with communities to find solutions to such issues as sexual coercion and exploitation of women and girls. We are fighting sex trafficking, while still serving its victims, and working to reduce commercial sex work.

The U.S. also supports behavior change strategies, including education for girls that builds self–esteem, allows for informed choices, and fosters the communication skills to say “no” to sex.

The American people are privileged to work together with the people of Trinidad and Tobago to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS.