High-level officials from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the African Union (AU), along with selected ministers of health from both regions, met in Geneva, Switzerland, this week to explore the role of shared responsibility and the global solidarity agenda in ending the AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean. The dialogue, held on 20 May and convened by UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, examined the first steps in developing a Caribbean road map towards such shared responsibility.

In 2012, the African Union produced its own Roadmap on Shared Responsibility and Global Solidarity for AIDS, TB and Malaria Response in Africa, with technical assistance from UNAIDS, which built on the considerable progress the continent has made in transforming its response to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. The AU Roadmap is based on three central pillars: more diversified, balanced and sustainable financing models; access to medicines, local production and regulatory harmonization; and leadership, governance and oversight for sustainability.

AU delegates at the Geneva meeting were able to share their wealth of experience on the processes, mechanisms and political support required to attain these goals, promote greater self-reliance and ensure the success of the road map. The meeting also facilitated further exchanges and links between countries of both regions regarding their HIV and health responses.

It emerged that there were major common challenges and opportunities facing the Caribbean and Africa in terms of health and development issues in the post-2015 context. These include equitable access to health services, social protection and human rights issues and, as incomes rise, an increasing lack of access to official development assistance, which has profound implications for sustainability. 

The meeting formally endorsed a CARICOM–AU–UNAIDS partnership to assist the development of the CARICOM road map. Initial steps will consist of gathering evidence to help define Caribbean-specific road map pillars and drawing up a schedule of meetings at the very highest technical and political levels.