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USAID Putting More Resources into HIV/AIDS Campaign
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Abstract
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| The US Agency for International Development wants its HIV prevention funding efforts in Jamaica to reflect the country’s epidemic, according to Dr. Karen Hilliard, the USAID-Jamaica director.
“I think it’s fine to target adolescents with messages that they should postpone their sexual activities, but if they are not the ones in the driver’s seat I tend to think our messages are a little misdirected,” Hilliard said recently. “It’s one thing to tell adolescents they shouldn’t have sex, but we found in our research that they are postponing their sexual activities longer, but it is coerced sex that’s the problem for them and it’s not with other young people, it’s with middle-aged people, primarily middle-aged men,” she said.
“Jamaica has managed to keep [its 1.8 percent prevalence] somewhat under control because condom use is high here, but the incidence of things like intergenerational sex, sex for barter or money, and a high level of stigmatization against men who have sex with men forces it underground,” noted Hilliard. “In addition, one of the major drivers is multiple concurrent partners: one person gets infected and pretty soon everybody is. These are touchy issues to deal with from a societal level, but deal with them we must.”
“We are going to be working with the Ministry of Health to try to find more ways to get people to open up to the idea of being more sexually responsible,” Hilliard said.
Under a regional HIV prevention program, USAID will provide Jamaica with $10.7 million this year, Hilliard said. “We are hoping that over the next four years we will up that amount,” she added.
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Source
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| http://www.jamaicaobserver.com |
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Subjects
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Federal Government Agencies
Funding
HIV/AIDS Prevention
International Health Programs
Latin America and Caribbean
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cdcnpin.org News Record #54713
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