Welcome to the UWISE Website! We hope that after a quick review of our site and our endeavours, you will be convinced to join and participate in our activities, either in person or otherwise. We have taken up the charge this semester to do considerable work on one of the most talked about, but least considered topics in our modern Caribbean society, according to some talk show hosts. HIV & AIDS. The World AIDS Campaign is a multifaceted drive to bring the scourge of AIDS to an end worldwide, by informing and educating the world’s population about it. Over the years, various activities have been undertaken throughout the year, with a climax taking place on World AIDS Day (WAD), observed on December 1st.
At the University of the West Indies, this day is in the height of the preparation period for semester final examinations, and as such, many students do not participate. Various student organizations do, however, undertake activities which quite often are not highly participated while some are very well attended by students. As an act of solidarity with some of the parts of the World AIDS Campaign, UWISE will dub the week leading up to WAD Solidarity Week, and asks all members of the University Community to wear specific colors each day, to show solidarity.
If you want current information about our HIV/AIDS campaign, and to get involved, join our mailing list, or contact us! For those of you who need convincing about how serious our situation is here in the Caribbean and in Trinidad and Tobago, read on! According to UN Reports, the Caribbean is the second most affected region (affected by HIV/AIDS) in the world. That's right after Sub Saharan Africa. If you don't know, that's bad. This isn't one of the titles we'd want to 'fly our Caribbean flags high' with. Here is some more interesting information about HIV/AIDS from UNAIDS 2006 annual reports. - Among the notable new trends are the recent declines in national HIV prevalence in two sub-Saharan African countries ... and similarly in Haiti, in the Caribbean, alongside indications of significant behavioural change—including increased condom use, fewer partners and delayed sexual debut.
Source ©: UNAIDS Report on the global AIDS epidemic: Executive summary, (2006), The global epidemic today, p.6
- The Caribbean’s epidemics—and countries’ AIDS responses—vary considerably in extent and intensity. HIV infection levels have decreased in urban parts of Haiti and in the Bahamas and have remained stable in neighbouring Dominican Republic and Barbados. As well, expanded access to antiretroviral treatment in the Bahamas and Barbados appears to be reducing AIDS deaths. However, such progress has not been enough to undo the Caribbean’s status as the second-most affected region in the world. AIDS is the leading cause of death among adults (15–44 years) and claimed an estimated 27 000 [18 000–37 000] lives in 2005. Overall, less than one in four (23%) persons in need of antiretroviral therapy was receiving it in 2005.
WHO/UNAIDS (2006). Progress on global access to HIV antiretroviral therapy: a report on “3 by 5” and beyond. [WHO/UNAIDS, Geneva]. National adult HIV prevalence exceeds 2% in Trinidad and Tobago, and 3% in the Bahamas and Haiti.
Source ©: UNAIDS Report on the global AIDS epidemic: Executive summary, (2006), The global epidemic today, p.9
Want to read these reports yourself? Get it here
http://www.unaids.org/en/HIV_data/2006GlobalReport/default.asp |
