SENIOR MEDICAL Officer in the National HIV/AIDS Control Programme at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Yitades Gebre, has received the Individual Leadership Award from the Caribbean Coalition of National AIDS Programme Co-ordinators (CCNAPC) for his leadership in the organisation and the region.
The award by the 36-nation grouping, recognises founding members who have served the coalition well, assisting its development from a fledging association to an incorporated legal entity.
The presentation was made at the group's recent second annual conference in Barbados where The Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), based in Trinidad and Tobago, received the Group Leadership Award.
ADDITIONAL MOTIVATION
"I feel honoured, as it was good to be appreciated by fellow colleagues, but I feel that I must achieve more, and this award gives me additional motivation," Dr. Gebre tells JIS News, while insisting that the success of the coalition was due to team effort and effective partnerships with colleagues.
Dr. Gebre has served the coalition as Chairman since its inception in 2000 and was responsible for CCNAPC's partnership with CARICOM's Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP).
Under his chairmanship, the coalition also received accolades from CARICOM heads for its vision, mission and objectives, as it seeks to strengthen the HIV/AIDS leadership programme.
In addition, Dr. Gebre's ability to garner funds for the organisation, through proposals submitted to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other aid agencies, reflected his dedication to the organisation as well as the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Gebre says the award will also benefit Jamaica, as it will lead to further recognition of the country's programmes, both regionally and internationally. Increased recognition, he adds, will allow Jamaica to extend a lending hand to other countries in developing their local HIV/AIDS programmes.
Although his position as Chairman of CCNAPC will terminate in 2004, Dr. Gebre says that his work with the organisation will continue.
Dr. Gebre will have his hands full working with the local HIV/AIDS programme, which he regards as a long-term engagement.
"I have committed myself to working with infectious diseases and preventative medicine. I think I will be able to contribute towards the fight against HIV/AIDS for the next few years", he points out.
Dr. Gebre began working with the national HIV/AIDS programme in October 1998 under the direction of Dr. Peter Figueroa, who was then Chief Medical Officer and Director of the programme. When Dr. Figueroa relinquished the position of Director in 1999, Dr. Gebre assumed those duties and held the position until 2002.
Trained in preventative medicine and infectious diseases, Dr. Gebre says he was deeply grateful to the Ministry of Health for creating a favourable environment within which he could flourish personally and professionally. Commenting on the progress of the national programme, Dr. Gebre says he was most proud of the Mother to Child Transmission Programme (MTCT), which was started as a pilot in 1999, and then expanded.
TESTED
Under the MCTC programme this year, more than 8,000 pregnant mothers have been tested.
"So far, we estimate close to 20 per cent of pregnant mothers have been tested for HIV, and we want to expand and test patients at Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) clinics so as to reach the target of about 50,000 STD patients each year. Our goal is to overall, have about 150,000 tests done each year," he said.
Another milestone was the extension of the information base of the national HIV/AIDS programme, which include expanding the eight-hour hotline to 24 hour access and creating a web site, www.jamaicanap.org. This is in addition to the surveillance programme in HIV/AIDS, whereby information is disseminated quarterly by the Ministry of Health to the public.
Despite the successes, Dr. Gebre remains concerned about the high level of stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS and says it remains a challenge for the programme.
"It takes many partners to work towards reducing stigma and discrimination. This entails educating the public, aggressive legislative approaches, reducing discrimination at different sites for example the workplace, schools and health care facilities and, all aspects of our living," he suggests.
CCNAPC was established to bring together National AIDS Programme co-ordinators and managers, in order to strengthen leadership in HIV/AIDS programme management even as the disease continues to spread.
The coalition has 36 members from the English, Dutch, Spanish and French speaking nations of the Caribbean and its offices are located in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
- JIS
