Head of CARICOM and St Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister with responsibility for HIV/AIDS; Dr Denzil Douglas has welcomed the idea of the discussions between Insurance industry and Health care professionals.

He said, “It is another step to remove the stigma meted out to persons living with this disease.”

The Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), the Insurance Association of the Caribbean (IAC) and the Pan Caribbean Business Coalition (PCBC) have organised this forum, with support from the United States Aid Agency (USAID).

In a statement from the USAID, it is mentioned that one of the forum’s fundamental objective is to build public-private partnerships across the Pan Caribbean Region between the insurance and health sector to enhance access to treatment by People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and reduce the stigma discrimination associated with the disease.

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has applied to the Global Fund on HIV/AIDS to finance a proposed health insurance scheme for people living with HIV/AIDS in the Eastern Caribbean.

USAID has also pledged to assist in the revision of The Global Fund Application.

Participants attending the forum include representatives from Ministries of Health in the Caribbean Region, the private insurance sector and members of the PANCAP network.