Focus on at-risk groups says HIV Activistss

Stacy-Ann Jarrett, executive director of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), is calling for urgent attention to be given to HIV/AIDS at-risk groups regarding treatment prevention and care.

She says men who have sex with men (MSM), prostitutes, drug users and youths should be targeted, and the relevant assistance provided to them.

"The funding needs to go there, the activities need to go there, but because of lack of political will and fear, those who have been working in the field have not gone out as aggressively as the epidemic requires that they go out for these groups," said Jarrett.

She noted that Jamaica has further criminalised sex work in the most recent sexual offences bill, and no decision has been made in decriminalising buggery, and no media campaign has been made about anal sex, even though it is on the rise. Those facts, she says are causes for concern.

Young experimenters

"Young girls are engaged in anal sex to protect their virginity, and they don't have the information. We have young girls calling here (JASL) and asking since they cannot get pregnant from anal sex do they need a condom?" she said, adding that there was not enough dialogue to give the relevant information, especially to young people who experiment.

However, Roshane Reid, behaviour change communication (BCC) officer with the National HIV/STI programme at the Ministry of Health told The Gleaner that HIV prevalence in at-risk groups living with HIV, made individuals in that circle more vulnerable.

Reid explained that while poverty was tied to vulnerability, educational background was not a factor, as MSM become vulnerable because of the nature of the anus, and have a high prevalence level, of one in three.

She noted that one-to-one workshops have have been used to target MSM, commercial sex workers, drug users and youths. Reid told The Gleaner that issues such as lack of testing, multiple partnerships and stigma are causes for concern.

Anti-stigma campaign

In a bid to combat these issues, Reid said an anti-stigma campaign had been launched. Next year parenting, partner reduction, condom use for women and voluntary counselling and testing campaigns will also be launched.

Additionally, Reid said sometimes groups like sex workers cannot get legitimate jobs. Focussing on building skills, she says, can help to decrease the size of the group.

According to Reid there have been successes in this area but that has not brought about a domino effect for reasons particular to the industry.

"We have a few success stories, but those persons don't want to be out in the public," she said.

kimesha.walters@gleanerjm.com