Piot Urges Caribbean Companies To Increase HIV Prevention Efforts; New Business Coalition Launched

Businesses in the Caribbean region must boost investment in HIV prevention programs or deal with increasing costs to treat the virus, UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said on Monday at the Fifth Annual General Meeting of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against AIDS, or PANCAP, in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, the AP/Jamaica Observer reports. "Businesses are not doing enough," Piot said, adding, "There is a vast gap between the potential of business to respond to the AIDS epidemic and their actual response in the Caribbean and worldwide." According to the Trinidad-based Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce, the cost of HIV/AIDS treatment has increased by 30% in the region over the past five years. Piot said studies have shown that there "is a real return on the investment" after "a number of years" for companies that fund HIV/AIDS prevention and education programs (AP/Jamaica Observer, 11/1). St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas, who serves as PANCAP chair, on Monday announced the launch of the Pan-Caribbean Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS to coincide with the PANCAP meeting (Office of the Prime Minister release, 10/31).