The Minister of Health recently came out and announced that Guyana is doing very well in its fight against the deadly HIV/AIDS virus, and we should look towards its elimination from 2020. I say this is a pretty ambitious plan and one wonders if Guyana can seriously achieve this, what with the way young people are carrying on in their sexual exploits, this is going to prove even more difficult, but i say kudos to Minister Ramsammy for putting forth this ambitious plan. That aside, stigma and discrimination is another area that still needs a lot more work and this I think should be a major focus for the Ministry. Many a young man or woman who have engaged at some point in time in unprotected sex or some other form of risky behaviour, exposing themselves to the virus, are afraid to get tested as they fear what others will say if their status is found out.
Guyanese as we all know are some of the most judgmental people on the face of this earth, and I think this issue needs to be addressed more effectively by the Ministry and all of the donor organisations engaged in fighting this disease. Year after year we see the statistics of people living with HIV and AIDS yet no one really looks at those cases that are not known, no one pays attention to the young man or woman who, when they discover that they have the virus, sometimes due in part by their own risky behaviour, blames everyone but the one who ought to take responsibility, and then go out into the world not revealing their status to their sexual partners and subsequently destroying an innocent person's life. I am yet to see a case in this country where someone was charged for willfully and knowingly infecting someone else with the HIV/AIDS virus. This another thing the Ministry should address; there is need for some for a law in this country that prosecutes these individuals and send them away for a long time, and if there actually is such a law already, then it should be enforced and these people should be jailed like common criminals. I say more needs to be done, either by the Ministry or international agencies before the world can realistically see a start to the eradication of this virus by the UN touted 2015 deadline.
Someone recently told me that there is not enough effort being put into preaching abstinence to the younger generation. This I agree with to an extent, however, its my humble opinion that the most logical and proactive thing is the teach protection and monogamy to young people. Sure there is a section of every society where young people practice abstinence, and in more cases than not this is due in part to their religion and/or very strict upbringing. But this is still disproportionate to the section of the society which engages in sexual activity and other risky behaviour. Of course at some point these same individuals who abstain are going to become active and will most likely practice monogamy.
We can make moan and groan that abstinence is what needs to be taught to young people, but we need to face reality at the end of the day. The UN reports, and this can be seen in many a community or village in Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean and the world, that year after year the age that people are engaging in sexual activities is getting lower and lower. Our young men and women are becoming more and more sexually active at a younger age than say ten or fifteen years ago, and of course this means that more young people are exposing themselves to the HIV/AIDS virus, this is even evident in statistics readily available, that young people aged aged 15–24 account for an estimated 45 percent of new HIV infections worldwide.
Feel free to share yours thoughts and opinions on where you think Guyana is as it relates to its fight against HIV/AIDS and whether you think 2020 deadline as put forth by the Health Minister for the elimination of the virus is realistic.
