Caribbean Nations Request More Aid From United Kingdom for HIV/AIDS Initiatives
The leaders of 20 Caribbean nations and territories on Wednesday asked the United Kingdom for more funding to fight HIV/AIDS, the Associated Press reports. In his opening address to the three-day Caribbean-United Kingdom Forum in Guyana, Rudy Insanally, the host nation's foreign minister, asked British Foreign Minister Jack Straw to help the region fight the disease. "We very much hope that the United Kingdom will see it fit to contribute to the Pan Caribbean Partnership for HIV/AIDS, which was launched in the region last September as a regional response to the crisis," Insanally said. Straw said he was "committed" to securing more aid for the region, which has the second-highest HIV infection rate in the world behind sub-Saharan Africa, and said he will raise the issue with the European Union and the G8. However, he added that the money must be "properly" spent, saying that although funds have been lacking over the last 40 years, "too much" of the money given has been "spent in the wrong way" (Wilkinson, Associated Press, 4/4).
Jamaica's Governor General Calls HIV/AIDS a 'Top Priority'
Jamaica's Governor General Sir Howard Cooke on Thursday told the opening session of the nation's parliament that HIV/AIDS is among the island's "top priorities," the Associated Press reports. Cooke, who is considered the head of state as the British representative to the former colony, said the government will undertake "a strong multifaceted approach" to fighting HIV/AIDS, which he said could "create permanent damage to the entire society" if it is not controlled (Paulin, Associated Press, 4/4).