– embraces transition to full Govt. fundingDesigned to place Guyana on a trajectory to eliminate the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the Ministry of Health through its HIVision 2020 National HIV Strategic Plan (2013-2020) is paving the way to ensure that Guyana owns its fight against the epidemic.Moreover, the aim of the Strategic Plan is to highlight that through a fully funded HIV response coupled with country ownership, and shared responsibility along with experience, lessons learnt and innovation, could help to pave the way to make effective programme decisions.The HIVision 2020 National HIV Strategic PlanThe Report, which was officially launched yesterday before a gathering of health officials at the Grand Coastal Inn,China NFL Jerseys, East Coast Demerara, also speaks to the importance of investing resources wisely to obtain optimal results in the fight against HIV for the entire population.Minister of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran, in brief remarks, pointed out that the document, which has been in the making for a number of years, comes at an interesting time when Guyana,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, like a number of other countries, is being required to transition to a mode of self-support.He disclosed that preparations are already underway to accommodate the costing of the existing HIV programme into the national budget which embraces the timely document’s call for ownership of the HIV fight.“We have been hearing for a long time that it is coming; that we need to take ownership and that the forces in Guyana needed to take up more and more of the burden, especially since the acute nature of the epidemic has changed, whereby it is now a chronic situation,” Dr Ramsaran said.But realising ownership, according to the Minister, could prove to be a financial challenge, since with the transformation of the disease, it is expected that more patients will be living much longer.? This potential challenge has however been detailed in the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS)-authored Strategic Plan.? And according to Dr Ramsaran, “I am happy that this has been, at the early stages, recognised…We have a good plan, but we have to see how we can make it sustainable…”According to Programme Manager of NAPS, Dr Shanti Singh,Cheap China Jerseys, the development of the Strategic Plan was guided by a Steering Committee which was convened under the leadership of Minister Ramsaran and saw representation from a wide cross-section. This included members from the Governmental sector, international agencies and civil society.Dr Singh disclosed that the process entailed the end of term review of the previous National Strategic Plan of 2007-2011 as well as other key documents including the Guyana Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan,cheap nfl jerseys sale, the National Development Strategy of Guyana, the UNAIDS Getting to Zero Strategic Plan, the WHO HIV Strategic Plan, the UNESCO Strategic Plan and the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV/AIDS.“We had some key informant interviews that looked at the progress we made in the previous Strategic Plan that also assisted us in defining the priorities for the HIVision 2020,Wholesale NFL Jerseys,” Dr Singh disclosed. Added to this,Jerseys Wholesale, there were several focus group sessions that were conducted among Persons Living With HIV, Men Who have Sex with Men, and Female Commercial Sex Workers.Further there was work conducted by established technical working groups, for each of the five priority areas – Coordination; Prevention; Care, Treatment and Support; Integration; and Strategic Information – that have been defined in the new Strategic Plan.Also, four national consultations paved the way for the final draft and the subsequent crafting of the Report, which according to Dr Singh, seeks to address the issues and challenges of the HIV epidemic in Guyana.Moreover, it takes into consideration the priorities for national development with specific focus on the prevention and control of the disease, Dr Singh stated.