Abstract
The CCAS EXPERT SUMMIT convened an array of international experts in Barbados on August 27–31, 2017 under the theme “From Care to Cure–Shifting the HIV Paradigm.” The Caribbean Cytometry & Analytical Society (CCAS) partnered with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to deliver a program that reviewed the advances in antiretroviral therapy and the public health benefits accruing from treatment as prevention. Particular emphasis was placed on reexamining stigma and discrimination through a critical appraisal of whether public health messaging and advocacy had kept pace with the advances in medicine. Persistent fear of HIV driving discriminatory behavior was widely reported in different regions and sectors, including the healthcare profession itself; continued fear of the disease was starkly misaligned with the successes of new medical treatments and progress toward the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets. The summit therefore adopted the mantra “Test-Treat-Defeat” to help engage with the public in a spirit of optimism aimed at creating a more conducive environment for persons to be tested and treated and, thereby, help reduce HIV disease and stigma at the individual and community levels.
Highlights
The Caribbean Cytometry & Analytical Society (CCAS) EXPERT SUMMIT ‘‘From Care to Cure—Shifting the HIV Paradigm’’ reviewed advances in HIV diagnostics, treatment, prevention, and public health policy that have collectively shifted the paradigm from care to cure
The CCAS EXPERT SUMMIT convened an array of international experts in Barbados on August 27–31, 2017 under the theme ‘‘From Care to Cure–Shifting the HIV Paradigm.’’ The Caribbean Cytometry & Analytical Society (CCAS) partnered with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to deliver a program that reviewed the advances in antiretroviral therapy and the public health benefits accruing from treatment as prevention
The CCAS Expert Summit was able to draw on expert opinion and research from different regions and across disciplines to report broadly positive movement toward a shifting HIV paradigm
Summary
The Caribbean Cytometry & Analytical Society (CCAS) EXPERT SUMMIT ‘‘From Care to Cure—Shifting the HIV Paradigm’’ reviewed advances in HIV diagnostics, treatment, prevention, and public health policy that have collectively shifted the paradigm from care to cure. Edward Greene (United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in the Caribbean) noted that the ‘‘Test-Treat-Defeat’’ mantra was entirely consonant with UN Sustainable Development Goal 3.8 and the WHO Director General’s statement that ‘‘All Roads Lead to Universal Health Coverage.’’ In his address to the Champions For Change meeting—subsequent to the Expert Summit— the UN Special Envoy used ‘‘Test-Treat-Defeat’’ as an umbrella message to promote social protection, social justice, access to public health as a human right, and fostering an enabling environment.[61] Greene cautioned the Expert Summit that Universal Health Coverage will remain an elusive goal if stigma against persons living with HIV persisted within the healthcare profession He welcomed analysis to better understand and address fears of the disease that may be underpinning discriminatory attitudes and agreed that the time had come to craft a more optimistic message on HIV to galvanize community support. These realities have emphasized the need to enact a more systematic and measured response based on national biosecurity agendas in preparing for, and handling outbreaks of, emerging diseases
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