David Soomarie has been living with HIV for the past 20 years.
Soomarie, co-ordinator of local NGO Community Action Resource (CARe), said while T&T had come a long way in terms of the availability of drugs and treatment, much more was needed in terms of fighting stigma and discrimination.
As nations marked World Aids Day yesterday, figures from the Health Ministry’s HIV Co-ordinating Unit showed that an estimated 10,000 people were living with the virus in T&T.
Soomarie said people preferred to visit HIV sites outside of their communities in fear of being ostracised.
He said there were shortages last year for HIV drugs but was assured that the Health Ministry was working to correct that.
In detailing his personal story Soomarie said when he first found out he was positive he had no idea what to do. At that time he was in his early 30s.
“I didn’t know anything about treatment. I was not given any kind or treatment or any kind of referral. Back in the 80s all I knew about HIV was that I was going to die a very painful death,” Soomarie added.
In 2003, Soomarie said he was near to death, but now with medication he was fortunate to live a relatively normal life.
Health Minister Dr Terrence Deyalsingh, who touted the decrease in mother-to-child infections as a step in the right direction, conducted a walk through at a health and knowledge fair hosted yesterday by the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services at the Brian Lara Promenade, Port-of-Spain, in commemoration of World Aids Day.
Asked about the status of the National HIV/Aids Unit, Deyalsingh directed the question to the Office of the Prime Minister as it now fell under its purview.
Several people also took advantage of the opportunity to be tested.
But facts released by the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services still painted a worrying picture.
In delivering the feature address at the promenad yesterday, Social Development Minister Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn said the Government had recognised that the spread of HIV was, in part, closely aligned to poverty, ignorance, complacency, discrimination and inequity.
“Fear, coupled with misinformation about the disease, cause many people to react negatively to infected people as well as deterring them from getting tested,” she added.
In highlighting some of the challenges associated with HIV she said that included:
• A significant proportion of the vulnerable population, such as street dwellers, substance abusers, commercial sex workers and the indigent poor, are living with HIV.
• Only an estimated five per cent of the national population has been tested for HIV.
• An estimated 70 per cent of HIV cases are in the age group 15 to 44 years.
• A significant number of young people are involved in various degrees of risky sexual behaviour.
• Forced sexual debut affects approximately 20 per cent of young people.
Saying that testing positive for HIV/AIDS was no longer a death sentence
Crichlow-Cockburn added that infected people were able to live very long and healthy lives
From 2004 as at December 2014 the cumulative number of HIV cases was 27,207 said Colonel Anthony Whitehall, HIV/Aids co-ordinator, Ministry of National Security.
The total Aids cases, he added, for the same period was 6,589.
In determining if someone had HIV as opposed to Aids he said: “When you are looking at the cases of Aids what we are looking at is the person who has 200 and less that 200 CD4 count... in fact is said to be in a state of Aids and that's how we define a case of Aida or not because your CD4 cell count is supposed to be around 1,500.”
Whitehall said someone could also be HIV positive and also never get to the point of having Aids through proper monitoring and screening.
“It's like managing any other non-communicable disease. We manage it and keep it down at a particular level so you don't get ill,” Whitehall added.
On whether the data showed there was a rise in new HIV cases Whitehall said: “Because we have a more aggressive campaign on we have been able to test much more people and we are able to pick up additional cases.
“But we don't know whether that so called rise is because of improved testing or whether it is in fact through increase in the amount of persons who are HIV positive,” Whitehall added.
Caribbean second highest in world
The Caribbean has reported the second highest prevalence of HIV/Aids in the world, after sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2013, 250,000 adults and children were estimated to be living with HIV/Aids in the Caribbean and 12,000 new infections were projected for that same year.
In a statement issued yesterday the Caribbean Public Health Agency’s executive director Dr James Hospedales said despite that, the region had recorded success in reducing deaths due to HIV/Aids and in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
But he cautioned that although significant gains have been made that have turned the tide against this globally devastating disease, challenges still remained.
Hospedales also urged that efforts must be continued to be made to sustain and improve upon the progress that had been achieved.
The theme for World Aids Day 2011 to 2015 has been: “Getting to zero” referring to zero Aids-related deaths and zero stigma and discrimination.
Countries, the statement said, were encouraged to ensure that the rights of people living with HIV and Aids were not violated and that discrimination on the basis of HIV and Aids was not only reduced but ultimately eliminated.
Hospedales said that the only way to ensure that was to encourage everyone to know his or her HIV status and to ensure that was managed properly, in order to prevent the spread of new infections.
“If you are negative, stay negative by avoiding risk-taking activities. If you are positive, live positively, stay on treatment and disclose to your loved ones. Persons living with HIV can lead normal healthy lives if they are diagnosed early and if they stick faithfully to their treatment plans,” Hospedales added.
Stigma surrounding HIV still prevailed in the Caribbean as some living with HIV continued to be shunned by family, peers and the wider community, while others report discriminatory behaviour towards them in healthcare and education settings, erosion of their human rights and psychological damage.
The statement also urged healthcare workers that they had a duty to treat all patients as they would wish themselves to be treated if they were ill or had a health problem.