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Road to Vienna 2010

CVC has embarked on a strategy which is aimed at increasing the number of Caribbean delegates attending the International AIDS Conference in Vienna in 2010. (read more)

AIDS 2010

AIDS 2010 Regional Activities — Working Group Terms of Reference (read more)

World AIDS Week 2009 Universal Access & Human Rights

In keeping with the World AIDS Week 2009 theme of “Universal Access & Human Rights,” we will highlight some of the Caribbean’s initiatives aimed at increasing access to treatment for and championing the human rights of members of vulnerable communities who are part of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC) (read more)

CVC and CTAG’s Access to Treatment Day 2009

The Caribbean Treatment Action Group (CTAG) observes the second Annual Access to Treatment Day (November 29, 2009) with activities in Caribbean countries of – Haiti, Belize, Jamaica, Curacao and St. Lucia.(read more)

CVC Appointments

CVC announces the appointment of:

Board

    1. Dr. Marcus Day and Dr. Robert Carr as the Co-Chairs of the Board of Directors. Mr. Leonardo Sanchez and Dr. Rohan Lewis have also been appointed as Board Treasurer and Secretary respectively.
    2. The appointment of Ms. Ethel Pengel (Suriname), Mrs. Dona Da Coast de Martinez (Trinidad & Tobago) and Mr. Max Milner (Guadeloupe) to the Board of Directors.
The total Board compliment is Mario Kleindmoidg, Santo Rosario, Joan Didier, Veronica Cenac, Marcus Day, Robert Carr, Leonardo Sanchez, Rohan Lewis, John Waters, Ethel Pengel, Dona Da Coast de Martinez, Max Milner
    3. Mrs. Juanita Altenburg as Honorary Board Member
Executive

Mr. Ian McKnight as the Executive Director (read more)



Suzette Moses-Burton wins inaugural Juanita Altenberg Award for Excellence

CVC announced that St. Maarten based human rights activist Suzette Moses-Burton is the winner of the inaugural Juanita Altenberg Award for Excellence (read more)


Press Releases

CVC Human Rights Consultation

The Juanita Altenberg Award for Excellence (Nov 5, 2009)

Violence Against Sex Workers
(Nov 17, 2009)


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• Men who have Sex with Men

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Substance Users

While most international focus on the HIV epidemic and risk among substance users has focused on intravenous drug use (IDU), by far the greater threat in the Caribbean is from addiction to cocaine, especially crack cocaine. A sub-population of great concern for CVC is crack addicts who live on the city streets or in crack houses across the Caribbean. Studies in Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Trinidad have shown that crack-addicted women are more vulnerable than their male counterparts to infection with HIV.

The trailblazer in research in substance use and HIV has been the St. Lucia-based Caribbean Drug Abuse Research Institute (CDARI), founded by Marcus Day, Ph.D, a member of the Board of Governors of CVC. When few in the Region were aware of the severe hardships and vulnerabilities of substance users and crack addicts in the region, CDARI systematically collected data to clearly establish the link between addiction and vulnerability to HIV. In Jamaica, Coalition member Winston de la Haye has done an important study based on the CDARI's work that clearly showed a 3:1 ratio of women to men treating for crack addiction and also testing positive for HIV. This is in a context where, as in other parts of the world, access to ARVs for addicts is highly controversial. Some government officials believe that addiction disqualifies persons from accessing ARVs; activists in the region are divided on the issue. Where there is consensus, however, is on the vital need to provide shelter for homeless substance users, and to expand treatment facilities for those in recovery. There is also need for more funded programmes for street level interventions.

While research has clearly established the need, prevention work with substance users in the Caribbean remains underrecognised and underfunded. Many civil society agencies such as the Ionie Whorms Inner City Counselling Centre have been operating without an agency budget and have been surviving on limited funds pulled together by their principals. CVC believes this is a short-sighted approach to substance use in the region. The coalition is committed to advocating for the inclusion in both HIV prevention and treatment programmes for substance users.
 
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