UNFPA/OPEC HIV/AIDS Prevention Project

The OPEC Fund for International Development and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) are jointly supporting the fight against HIV/AIDS in Central America and the Caribbean. In that context, a three-year programme has been developed to reduce vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, particularly among adolescents and young people in especially difficult circumstances in six different countries, namely: Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Guyana and St. Lucia. Download: OPEC Pro Doc Summary (105 Kb)

HIV/AIDS Prevention among Youth in Belize

Notwithstanding valiant efforts in the face of limited resources, Belize continues to face significant challenges from the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Belize now has the highest rate of HIV infection per capita in Central America. (NATF/UNAIDS, 1999). Belizean Youth between the ages of 13 and 29 comprise roughly 40% of the population (CSO: 2002). Within this population, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections have been increasing since the first case was reported in 1986. In 2001, the incidence in the general population had reached 1.3 per 1000. In the 15 to 44 year group, the incidence had climbed to 2.3 per 1000. Between 1996 and 2001, the ratio of infected males to infected females has been equalizing from 1.9:1 to 1.4:1, indicating that more and more women in Belize are becoming infected. In the 20 to 49 year age group, AIDS is now the second highest cause of mortality (National Health Information and Surveillance Unit, 2002). Download: OPEC FUND UNFPA BELIZE Project (228 Kb)

HIV/AIDS Prevention among Youth in Guyana

Current regional and national epidemiological data show that the impact of the epidemic is most severe among the 15-44 year age group with three thousand and twenty four (3,024) cases having been diagnosed at the end of 2002. Since HIV/AIDS was first diagnosed in Guyana in 1987 in a homosexual male, the epidemic has become generalized in the population with the highest rate of infection being among the youth. Females are more at risk of infection as there were more females than males infected in the age group 15-19 years at the end of 1999 and among the 20-24 years at the end of 2001. Download: OPEC Fund UNFPA GUY Project (200 Kb)

HIV/AIDS Prevention among Youth in St. Lucia

The OPEC-Fund/UNFPA Project for HIV/AIDS Prevention among youth in especially difficult circumstances is to be implemented in six countries of the Caribbean and Central America in collaboration with national Governments and selected non-governmental organizations. The project aims to strengthen political and social commitment in Central America and the Caribbean, to halt the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to bolster country efforts to address the specific needs of one of the more vulnerable groups of the population. These include youth, and especially youth living in difficult circumstances who are most at risk of HIV infection. In doing so, the project is designed to reduce the vulnerability of youth to HIV/AIDS by providing them with life skills necessary to prevent HIV/AIDS. Download: OPEC FUND UNFPA ST LUCIA PROJECT (267 Kb)