On World AIDS Day, Prince Harry and Rihanna showed the people of Barbados and the world how simple it is to learn your HIV status.
“That was not bad,” Rihanna said as Prince Harry looked on from the bench next to her in Heroes Square, Bridgetown.
“It’s a pin prick,” he agreed.
Prince Harry and Rihanna were at the Man Aware event hosted by the Barbados National HIV/AIDS Commission. Here, the message that HIV testing is quick and easy is important for everyone, including boys and men—in Barbados, more than 85% of AIDS-related deaths are among men.
“Men are involved in high levels of risk-taking and present late for testing and treatment,” explained Jacqueline Wiltshire Gay, Director of the Barbados National HIV/AIDS Commission.
Barbados is one of the countries in the Caribbean closest to achieving control of its HIV epidemic and is currently being validated by the Pan American Health Organization for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Barbados is also on track to achieving the 90–90–90 targets of 90% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90% of people who know their HIV-positive status accessing treatment and 90% of people on treatment having suppressed viral loads. To reach the Fast-Track Targets, the country will have to change behaviours among men, who are less likely to get tested early and too often seek medical assistance too late.
Barbados is not alone. In several Caribbean countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana and Saint Lucia, the HIV epidemic is male dominated. In Trinidad and Tobago, while more females than males are getting tested for HIV, more males are testing HIV-positive. In Belize, according to UNAIDS estimates, more than half (57%) of AIDS-related deaths in 2015 were among males.
But men often don’t think of themselves as being at risk. Although in many countries in the region there are concentrated HIV epidemics among key populations, transmission rates among the general population are also relatively high.
The Barbados World AIDS Day campaign focused on specific strategies to engage, educate and empower men. According to Ms Wiltshire Gay, there is a renewed emphasis on collaborating with civil society organizations to ensure that men are reached.
At the World AIDS Day event, HIV counsellor Fabian Sargeant told Prince Harry and Rihanna that barber shops are excellent places to raise awareness of the need for HIV testing, because men meet there to discuss various aspects of their lives, including sex and relationships. Prince Harry said that while young people want to talk about HIV, there is still a stigma associated with it in the Caribbean. He thinks that if people knew about the advances in testing and treatment, they would be more willing to come forward.
“If you are HIV-positive you can take medication for the rest of your life and have a completely normal life,” he said.
Rihanna agreed, “So many people don’t know how easy it is to get tested and how quick you get your results back and how discreet it could be. Even if you are positive, there’s so much that can be done and the sooner the better.”
