$653 Million Allocated To Support National HIV/AIDS Project

The Government is expected to spend approximately $653 million on a project, titled Support to the National HIV/AIDS Response in Jamaica, during the 2021/2022 fiscal year.

Details of this expenditure are outlined in the 2021/2022 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives.

Objectives of this project are to reduce AIDS-related morbidity with effective biomedical and supporting interventions; and reduce new HIV infections among key populations through behavioural and structural interventions.

The anticipated targets during the 2021/2022 fiscal year include:

• Reaching 20,087 men who have sex with men (MSM) with HIV-prevention programmes during the fiscal year
• Reaching 2,497 transgender with HIV-prevention programmes
• Providing 16,069 MSM with HIV testing and test results
• Providing 1,997 transgender persons with HIV testing and test results
• Reaching 16,981 female sex workers with HIV-prevention programmes during the fiscal year
• Providing 13,584 females sex workers with HIV testing and test results
• Providing at least 17,647 adults and children with antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Achievements of the project up to December 2020 included:

• Reaching 3,854 MSM with HIV-prevention programmes during the fiscal year
• Reaching 265 transgender persons with HIV-prevention programmes during the fiscal year
• Providing 3,455 MSM with HIV testing and results during the fiscal year
• Providing 218 transgender persons with HIV testing and results during the fiscal year
• Providing 3,192 MSM with syphilis tests and results during the fiscal year
• Reaching 4,979 females who have sex with other females with HIV-prevention programmes during the fiscal year
• Providing 4,164 females who have sex with other females with HIV tests and results during the fiscal period
• Providing 4,040 females who have sex with other females with syphilis tests and results during the fiscal period
• Providing 13,932 adults and children with (ART) during the fiscal year
• Enrolling 1,116 adults and children in ART during the fiscal period

The project is funded by the Government of Jamaica and the Global Fund.