Report Shows HIV/AIDS Numbers Decreased in the Caribbean
October 27th, 2009 at 6:07 am Posted by The Dean
A report from Guyana suggests that the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the Caribbean have decreased over the past year or so. As with any type of decrease or reduction of a deadly or infectious disease, the questions of “How” and “Why” arise.
The 9th annual meeting of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) will be held on the island of Grenada tomorrow through Friday. The Dean believes that more information about this reported decrease could shed some light on different methods and possible treatment methods which could benefit other densely infected areas of the world.
In the Caribbean, there was a 15% decrease in the number of new infections, compared to 20,000 new cases from the previous year. PANCAP also reports that HIV/AIDS related deaths were down 21% during the same period of time.
Despite the decreases and lives seemingly spared, PANCAP Director Carl Browne suggests “The figures are still very high for such a small region.” Browne continued by comparing the Caribbean on a per capita basis to the likes of sub-Saharan African, where the highest infected populations are found.
The Caribbean, which is relatively small compared to the United States, has an HIV population of 230,000—less than 25% of the 1,000,000 believed to be infected in the United States.
Although the infected population in the Caribbean has been compared to sub-Saharan Africa, only 1.1% of the population of the Caribbean adult population is infected, compared to 5% living in sub-Saharan Africa.
Authorities believe that the decrease in new infections is due to “massive public education” and “increased condom-use,” while the declining number of HIV/AIDS deaths has been the result of more access to treatment. The Dean was surprised that the types of treatments and therapies being used were not discussed in the article.
Although the report did not directly reference the Thailand AIDS trial, the article did suggests that PANCAP would be looking into “an HIV vaccine that has shown a 31% rate of success.” This leaves The Dean to believe that there must be something unique about the Thailand AIDS trial vaccine, despite the controversy over its inaccurate and possibly flawed results.
