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Jul 03, 2018 News
The Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS, (PANCAP), has commenced a Regional forum on migrants and mobile populations’ rights with an examination on the state of migrants’ access to healthcare services in the region.
The PANCAP-GIZ-EPOS Migrant Project is aimed at improving inclusion of migrants on regional and national HIV organizations in order to advocate for equal access to health care in Antigua and Barbuda, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guyana, Suriname, Sint Maarten and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
A recent study had revealed that when it relates to access to healthcare, migrants are in a vulnerable population.
The study outlined that “migrants and mobile populations are exposed to a unique set of factors and complex obstacles that make them more vulnerable to HIV, including limited access to health services and information, as well as exposure to situations that may increase high-risk sexual behaviour. “
As part of its objective PANCAP is hoping to meet the universal health coverage targets set by the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as it is crucial that the rights of migrants to access health services— particularly HIV services.
Last week, Director of PANCAP, Dereck Springer noted that the Migrants Forum builds on programmes and interventions for PANCAP through funding from development partners and supporting national governments and civil society.
The overall objective of the forum, he said, is to implement and address the health needs of migrants and the mobile populations.
Springer had emphasized that while the right to proper healthcare is universal, the region has been shaped by the forces of migration, which has resulted in both opportunities and challenges.
“The Caribbean has not adequately addressed the issue of how migrants and mobile populations are afforded basic human rights, especially access to health services.”
In this regard, PANCAP has been commended on leading discussions and planned action on this issue, with the intent of developing a regional framework that promotes appropriate access to HIV services of migrants.
At the event, Aurora Noguera Ramkissoon, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’s Caribbean Liaison Officer delivered remarks on behalf of Ms. Dawn Foderingham, Fast Track Adviser and Team Leader for the UNAIDS Caribbean Sub-regional Team.
She noted that while there are migration and refugee crises in every part of the world, “in the Caribbean we say that if your neighbour’s house is on fire, you should wet your own.”
“I urge us all to work diligently over the next few days to create a framework that would ensure a human rights-based, sustainable and feasible approach to ensuring migrant and mobile populations have healthcare access, including HIV prevention, treatment, care and support”.
Further, the UNFPA Liaison Officer noted that practical considerations should be given to both sides of the debate.
She pointed out that “some argue that by protecting the health of migrants you naturally protect the health of the local or host population. Others raise concerns about the increased costs to the host country.
What is too often missing in the discussion is the human aspect: the fundamental understanding that migrants are human beings: entitled to the same important human rights as other members of the population.”
“This understanding is reinforced in the Sustainable Development Goals, which call for the empowerment of vulnerable groups including refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants as well as their access to essential, quality health-care services.”
Meanwhile in her feature address, Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, Dean of the Faculty of Law at The University of The West Indies, St. Augustine campus stated that there is no doubt that the HIV prevention agenda has experienced a significant lull, but it seems that now the region has been re-energised.
She stated that in all of the studies and the policy framework developed there must be a commitment to a human rights framework that places a premium on civil and political rights of the individuals.
“Economic and social rights must be included like the right to health and the right to work.
This commitment must transcend borders, so that all persons are entitled to such rights, wherever they are located, and there must be a pragmatic approach to the right to health and to rights in general, recognizing that a non-discriminatory strategy for public health benefits the entire population.
Put simply, having undocumented persons in our communities without access to HIV testing and treatment endangers not just them, but all of us.”
Referring to the first universal principle, Professor Antoine stated, “given that the legal framework supporting access to HIV services for migrants is generally weak in the countries under study, in my capacity as the Regional Consultant, I framed some human rights principles to facilitate the objectives of the project.
“These principles were supported by the component one group in November 2011 as the principles to be used as the basis for the development of the national policy guidelines.
It includes the principle that all persons, including migrants and mobile populations, should be able to access a minimum standard of medical treatment for HIV, that may be located under a number of internationally recognized human rights principles.”
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