Only about half of people who need antiretroviral drugs in Jamaica are receiving them, a Ministry of Health official said yesterday.

Dr. Kevin Harvey, director of HIV/AIDS treatment and care in the Health Ministry, said only 2,500 of the 4,000 persons who need the drugs are getting them.

He said they are not receiving the drugs because there are still many who are not aware they have the virus. He said there are some 15,000 people who have the virus, but do not know because they do not get tested. As such, he said there needs to be more voluntary testing of people.

Dr. Harvey was speaking at yesterday's launch of the Building Capacity Project at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in HIV/AIDS awareness. The project is being conducted by the University of the West Indies HIV/AIDS Response Programme.

Also speaking at the function, Professor Neville Ying, acting director of the Mona School of Business, said NGOs' roles in addressing HIV/AIDS can be farther reaching if they are assisted in building institutional capacity. He said leadership should be a central area of focus in this regard.

"Hence, in seeking to maximise the impact of NGOs in addressing social problems, we must make them excellent NGOs by implementing strategies for improving and strengthening their institutional capacity and demonstrate those features," he said.