30 years Since HIV Landed in Antigua

The year 2015 marks thirty since the first HIV infection was recorded in Antigua and Barbuda.

According to the AIDS Secretariat from 1985 to present the country has recorded an accumulative total of 1046 HIV/AIDS cases. There have been 561 are males and 485 are females diagnosed. With 256 deaths…there are 792 persons living with HIV\AIDS.

That’s according to Educator/Counselor in the Aids Secretariat Oswald Hannays.

In an effort to achieve their goal of getting to zero, a number of outreach activities are planned for 2015. These include testing in large communities like Liberta, All Saints and Bolans.

Ewalda Piper speaks of next month’s launch of IEC materials in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation.

Hannays says heavy focus will be placed on the prevention of mother to child transmission.

He note that without testing no form of intervention can be done adding that in most cases if mothers follow through on all recommendations the transmission rate from mother to child is less than one percent.