Making the Case: Stigma, Evidence, and Health Systems Strengthening in the Caribbean

Saturday, November 19, 5:00-6:30PM
Location : Grand F
Type: Special Sessions
Moderators:
Michel de Groulard , UNAIDS
Ayana Hypolite, PANCAP
This session will provide an overview of current evidence and challenges in understanding and addressing stigma and discrimination. It will explore possibilities in conceptualizing and articulating stigma and discrimination so as to make a better case on the importance of effectively reducing stigma and discrimination to policy makers and the general public. To set the stage, the session will include a presentation on stigma and disease and the current situation and challenges for the Caribbean. A member of the PANCAP Regional Stigma and Discrimination Unit will provide an overview of key findings in the 2011 assessment of stigma and discrimination in the Caribbean, followed by a presentation on what works in programming for health services and how to measure success. Finally a respondent will discuss implications for the Caribbean.

Speakers
1. Christine Barrow: Challenges and Lessons on Stigma from the Caribbean
2. Sarah Adomakoh: Assessment findings related to stigma and discrimination in the Caribbean
3. Laura Nyblade: Programming for stigma reduction: what works in health care settings? What do we know about measuring stigma and discrimination in health care settings?
4. Respondent: Maurice Tomlinson, Jamaica

Making it Work: Measuring Stigma and Discrimination in Health Care Settings
Monday, November 21, 4:30-6:30PM
Location: Adonis III
Moderators:
Ken Morrison, México
Laura Nyblade, USA
Elizabeth Lloyd, Trinidad and Tobago

This is an interactive skills-building session that will share recent developments in measuring stigma and discrimination in health care settings, presenting measurement tools and methodologies. It will also include participatory review of indicators for measuring sigma in health care settings. At the end of the session, participants will be more familiar with up-to-date tools and approaches for measuring stigma and discrimination in health care settings in the Caribbean.

Plenary Session III and Closing Ceremony: Looking to the Future
Monday, November 21, 11:00-12:30AM
Location: Imperial E/F/G/H/IA
An AIDS-free Caribbean requires investment in Stigma and Discrimination.
Dr. Farley Cleghorn, Vice President, Futures Group.

Stigma Booth: “Responding to Stigma and Discrimination in the Caribbean”
November 18-21
Location: Booth #2, Grand Foyer, Atlantis
Organized by PANCAP implementing partners with the support of Health Policy Project and Futures Group.
The above sessions are supported in part by the Health Policy Project in collaboration with PANCAP implementing partners.

The Health Policy Project is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement No. AID-OAA-A-10-00067, beginning September 30, 2010. It is implemented by Futures Group, the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), Futures Institute, Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office (PPD ARO), Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, and the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (WRA).

Additional sessions focused on HIV Stigma and Discrimination

Stigma and Health Professionals
Saturday, November 19, 5:00-6:30PM
Location : Hermes Room
Moderators:
Suzette Moses-Burton

Presentations
• HIV/AIDS stigma and health professionals in Puerto Rico: Research findings and implications for its reduction.
Nelson Varas-Diaz, Puerto Rico
• Fear of HIV/AIDS and perception of personal risk: Examining the impact on stigma.
Rosana Yearwood, Trinidad and Tobago
• Designing an HIV Prevention Medical Education Curriculum for Hispanic Medical Students at the University of Puerto Rico Medical School: A Model for the Caribbean.
Clemente Diaz, Puerto Rico
• Health care students’ willingness to interact with patients living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA): Examining the influence of attributions, prejudicial evaluation, perception of occupational risk and emotions.
Janiel Philip, Trinidad and Tobago

Stigma, Culture and Risk
Sunday, November 20, 3:00-4:00PM
Location : Hermes Room
Moderators:
Christine Barrow

Presentations
• Credibility of the “AIDS Mary” contemporary legend among college students in the Dominican Republic: framing the HIV-related stigma.
Marija Miric, Dominican Republic

Gender-Based Perspective on Stigma and HIV Risk
Sunday, November 20, 5:00-6:30PM
Location : Grand A
Moderators:
Nanet Lopez-Cordova

Presentations
• Gender Dimension of HIV-related stigma in the Dominican Republic.
Dulce Almonte Ledesma, Dominican Republic
• Developing a Computerized HIV Screening Instrument for Women at Risk for or Experiencing Violence. Jenny Namur Karp, USA

RSDU Pilot Series
Monday, November 21, 2:00-4:00PM
Location: Adonis II
•Development of a Community Driven Rights-Based Stigma
Response Model: Human-Rights Messaging Campaigns
in St Lucia, Jamaica and Dominica
Cheryl Gill-Eversley, Barbados

Increased awareness of human rights is an important prerequisite to expanding the rights-based approach to stigma reduction in the Caribbean. This workshop will present a community-driven, rights-based stigma response model that was developed and tested in response to calls from national AIDS programmers and other key stakeholders to develop strategies that effectively engage communities.