Jamaica
With 1.6 percent of the adult population estimated to be HIV positive, Jamaica appears to have stabilized its HIV/AIDS epidemic. First detected in 1982, HIV is now present in all of Jamaica’s parishes, while Kingston, St. Andrew, and St. James – the three most urbanized parishes – have the majority of cases. UNAIDS estimates 27,000 people in Jamaica are infected with HIV, and men and women aged 20 to 44 account for 65 percent of reported AIDS cases.
USAID/Jamaica programming is now part of the Caribbean Regional Partnership Framework, which provides the strategic framework for cooperation and coordination among the U.S. Government, 12 countries, and two regional organizations. The Regional Partnership Framework was signed with Jamaica in June 2010. Current USAID activities focus on supporting the national program by providing financial assistance to the Ministry of Health (MOH) to
- increase safer sex practices and improve attitudes and behaviors among vulnerable, high-risk groups;
- reduce HIV transmission by delaying sexual initiation, promoting abstinence, and increasing condom use among sexually active adolescents;
- reduce stigma and discrimination and improve the protection and rights of selected vulnerable, groups or most-at-risk populations through work with faith-based organizations;
- support the capacity building of stakeholders involved in policymaking, program design and implementation, and monitoring and evaluation;
- help improve the capacity of the MOH staff ; and
- support the Ministry of Labor and Social Security service activities related to HIV/AIDS workplace policies and for behavior change initiatives, strengthen NGOs, to enable them to effectively participate in the national response, and improve data collection while building national capacity for collecting and using strategic information.
View the full USAID HIV/AIDS Health Profile for Jamaica - September 2010 [PDF, 112KB]
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