Source: globalvoices.org<\/p>\n
In an interview with\u00a0the Trinidad and Tobago\u00a0Newsday\u00a0in mid-December, 2019, Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh made a\u00a0controversial statement, suggesting that even if the HIV-preventative drug known as PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis)\u00a0were readily available, it would encourage promiscuity.<\/p>\n
Minister Deyalsingh had made similar remarks at the\u00a02016 Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS signing ceremony, aimed at eliminating the spread of HIV by 2030, at which he made it clear that the government would\u00a0not allow\u00a0access to PrEP via the local public health care system.<\/p>\n
Deyalsingh’s attitude toward HIV\/AIDS prevention highlights Trinidad and Tobago’s ongoing struggle with HIV stigma and a lack of sex education.<\/p>\n
While PrEP has been proven to reduce the chances of contracting the HIV virus, Deyalsingh maintained that the government will not subsidise the PrEP medication because the thrust of his ministry’s HIV\/AIDS awareness campaign is post-exposure care, not prevention. If people want the drug, he\u00a0said, it is available in the private health care sector.<\/p>\n
While Deyalsingh offered exceptions to the rule, many citizens felt that his remarks exacerbate the heavy stigma of HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0the interview\u00a0with Newsday, Deyalsingh explained that should a health care worker accidentally get stuck with a needle, for instance, or in cases of sexual assault, those involved would be given the treatment if there is a chance they might contract the virus. While the World Health Organisation classifies PrEP as an \u201cessential medicine,\u201d the minister rationalised his position this way:<\/p>\n
PrEP is to give [\u2026] to people before exposure or with no exposure to HIV\u2026It means that knowingly you are going to engage in some sort of behaviour that would cause you to be at a higher risk of getting HIV and you want to take a drug to prevent yourself from getting HIV. [\u2026]<\/p>\n
That is not government policy [\u2026] It’s a simple as that.<\/p>\n
His comment was met with a lot of criticism, especially from Trinidad and Tobago’s estimated\u00a029,000 citizens\u00a0living with the virus \u2014 a\u00a0reduced number, thanks in part to the efforts of both government agencies\u00a0and non-governmental organisations dedicated to education, prevention and stigma reduction on HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n
HIV stigma<\/p>\n
HIV-positive patients\u00a0often face\u00a0discrimination\u00a0because of their health status, and many cannot afford the required drugs through the private health care system.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago\u00a0(FPATT) has\u00a0insisted\u00a0that the government must make the drug available, saying that citizens have the right to access medication in the public health sector.<\/p>\n
Calling the minister’s statement \u201cmyopic,\u201d executive director of FPATT, Donna Da Costa Martinez,\u00a0chastised\u00a0Deyalsingh for contributing to the narrative that the drug encourages promiscuity, rather than educating people about its actual purpose: being \u201ca useful tool to prevent HIV\u201d:<\/p>\n
The statement is not only short-sighted but harmful, as the deciding factor then becomes grounded in a moral debate about human sexuality, an integral part of who we are and what we do.<\/p>\n
A lack of sex education<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Family Planning Association, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs,\u00a0Shamfa Cudjoe, and Minister Deyalsingh, representing the health ministry, have all said that the country needs massive reforms in sex education, but\u00a0little\u00a0to\u00a0nothing\u00a0has been done by the Ministry of Education.<\/p>\n
Deyalsingh is\u00a0pro-sex education\u00a0and admits that its absence\u00a0contributes misinformation\u00a0among young people:<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s not try to put our heads in the ground. Let\u2019s just open our eyes, face the realities and make sure that we introduce sexual education adequate for the age of the students in schools.<\/p>\n
Yet, several of the country’s religious bodies condemn the concept of sexual education, most notably the\u00a0Trinidad and Tobago Council of Evangelical Churches.<\/p>\n
Despite the state’s mandate to retain a secular view when it comes to laws and policies, government officials, often in the health and education ministries, often pander to the interests of the country’s diverse religious population, using religion as\u00a0their rationale\u00a0for not developing a well-rounded\u00a0sex education curriculum.<\/p>\n
As a result, successive governments have had a\u00a0\u201chands-off\u201d policy\u00a0when it comes to sex education, with many schools opting for an abstinence-only approach, mainly due to the fact that a majority of the country’s schools have religious affiliations.<\/p>\n
Currently, the ministry has a\u00a0Primary Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) curriculum aimed at teaching children about sex, sexuality and STIs.\u00a0 The programme, however, is not mandatory for teachers if they feel uncomfortable teaching it.\u00a0Since the ministry does not have many specialised teachers to teach the subject,\u00a0they rely \u201con the goodwill of the teachers\u201d:<\/p>\n
Connected with this lack of sex education are\u00a0many\u00a0unplanned pregnancies\u00a0and a lack of knowledge about how sexually transmitted infections and be contracted and prevented.<\/p>\n
Dr. Kale Ferguson, Chairman of the\u00a0Tobago AIDS Coordinating Committee,\u00a0said\u00a0in a speech earlier this year that youth education is key to HIV prevention, as well as reducing stigma. Trinidad and Tobago’s\u00a0\u201cmost at risk\u201d\u00a0group for HIV is females, aged 15-24.<\/p>\n
\u2018Moral hypocrisy\u2019<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Colin Robinson of the Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (CAISO), which has been advocating the use of PrEP as a preventative measure, has accused Minister Deyalsingh of \u201cmoral hypocrisy.\u201d<\/p>\n
By\u00a0refusing to implement\u00a0a policy to allow access to PrEP, Robinson said, the ministry is standing in the way of protection. He explained that the decision to make the drug available in public health care facilities lies solely with the minister, but lamented the ministry’s stance, stating: \u201cWe are not really empowering communities to stop HIV.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other Caribbean territories, including\u00a0Guyana, have already implemented the use of the drug in order to prevent HIV and save lives.<\/p>\n
Thus far, Minister Deyalsingh has not responded to any of the outcry surrounding his statement.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[62,52,2665,620,2664,93],"class_list":["post-3780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aids-hiv","tag-aids","tag-hiv","tag-minister-of-health","tag-public-health","tag-sex-education","tag-stigma"],"yoast_head":"\n