Barbados is on course to meet all of the health-related Millennium Development Goals.
That is according to the Regional Director for the Americas of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Carissa Etienne. Speaking yesterday at the Caribbean Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Managers’ Meeting at the Hilton Hotel, the regional director said that this country is also leading the Caribbean with respect to research on health topics.
Dr. Etienne offered high commendation to Barbados for many of the initiatives that the Government has been undertaking with respect to the local health care sector, contending that Barbados has been a leader regionally and globally.“Your whole emphasis on the improvement of accountability and increasing efficiency, our member states are demanding that PAHO addresses this; and we do this while we also improve transparency. So, as you work in your country to ensure efficiency and accountability, at PAHO we will be doing the same and hopefully we can exchange experiences so that not only does the Ministry of Health in Barbados improve, but also at the regional level and PAHO can also do better,” she said.
Progress
Meanwhile, referring to HIV and AIDS, Minister of Health John Boyce said Barbados is definitely on target to achieve Millennium Development Goal number six which speaks to combatting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases by 2015.
He said that the Ministry’s HIV/AIDS Programme continues to play a fundamental role in the prevention, treatment and care aspects of the national HIV/AIDS efforts in Barbados. Boyce said that according to the Barbados HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report 2010, there is an overall downward trend in the number of HIV cases being diagnosed annually, which he suggests is reflective of declining HIV transmission rates.
“Similarly, there is a downward trend in mortality rates among those with HIV in care at the Ladymeade Reference Unit, which is the nucleus of comprehensive medical and supportive services for Persons Living with HIV in Barbados,” he added.
The Minister said that efforts are being undertaken to expand HIV services in the several areas, including the strengthening of HIV surveillance; integration of HIV services into the primary health care system; scaling-up of HIV testing through provider initiated testing and counselling; rapid testing and targeted testing; as well as training and capacity building.
“As we all know, HIV testing plays a pivotal role in the prevention and control of the AIDS epidemic. The Ministry has, therefore, developed a National HIV Testing Policy to act as a catalyst in the scaling-up of HIV testing by setting minimum standards while advocating the use of evidence-based strategies. The policy outlines the overarching direction on HIV testing and its guiding principles. The Ministry expects that all persons engaged in HIV testing and counselling in Barbados would adhere to these policies, strategies and guiding principles,” he stated. (JRT)
