by Linda Straker
Foreign Affairs Minister Elvin Nimrod has informed the world through his speech during the 2017 United Nations General Assembly Debate, that 0.3% of the Grenada population (which according to 2011 data stands at 105,539) is living with HIV/AIDS.
“Mr President, Grenada has made important progress in controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS. Only 0.3% of our population presently lives with this disease. The work of Grenada’s National Infectious Disease Control Unit (NIDCU) and our health care practitioners and policy-makers must be highly commended for their work in this regard,” Nimrod said when he made his contribution last Saturday evening.
He informed the body that the work of NIDCU is greatly supported by international assistance and that assistance is being depleted without foreseeable replenishment. He said that this is already the case in some Caribbean countries.
Thanking the Global Fund, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), PAHO and the German Development Bank (KfW) for their assistance, Nimrod used the opportunity to urge donors to be flexible in their relief responses.
“We cannot wait on data while our people suffer. Mr President the data will come eventually but in the meantime lives, families, communities are at stake,” he said.
Since Grenada recorded its first case of HIV/AIDS in 1984, it has recorded a total of 631 positive cases. Sixteen new cases were recorded for the first 6 months of 2017. Less than 200 of the positive cases are presently on treatment, while less than 300 have died.