By John Denny

Observer Reporter

(Charlestown, Nevis) – In an effort to scale up the numbers of people getting tested for HIV, health care providers met for a workshop last week in Nevis to discuss possible policy changes and approaches to stemming the tide of infections. The providers were introduced to a program called Provider Initiated Counseling and Testing (PICT) where health care providers offer HIV testing when a patient is seeking treatment for other matters.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health on Nevis Mrs. Joslyn Liburd addressed the providers, saying the Ministry was behind this initiative which has been endorsed by the Pan-American Health Organization.

“By utilizing the strategy of routinely offering an HIV test to a client regardless of the service he or she is seeking at the hospital or health centre, it is hoped that the number of HIV tests conducted annually will increase significantly and individuals would know their status early and seek treatment, care and support and thus prevent the spread of the disease,” said Mrs. Liburd. “It feeds into our goal of increasing the number of HIV tests conducted annually by 5 percent in 2009.”

Out of the more than 1,200 tests conducted on the island in 2008, three people were found to be positive of HIV.

During the course of the workshop, there was a suggestion of making HIV testing mandatory for the Island or the Federation. The person making the suggestion said it would simplify everything because there would no longer be any stigma attached to getting tested. Everyone would just have to do it and then the issue of treatment could more aggressively be pursued.

Currently there are 15 people on Nevis that are being treated for HIV/AIDS. The known infection rate for the Federation is less than one percent. It is still slightly higher than worldwide infection rates, but low for the Caribbean region. The problem lies with what the unknown infection rate is and until more people in the higher risk groups are tested, an accurate number can’t be ascertained. The most at-risk age group is 15 to 30 and they seldom get tested.