The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) office in Jamaica serves as a regional hub for CDC’s Caribbean Regional Office (CRO) which also provides direct support to Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. CRO opened in 2002 in Trinidad and Tobago and relocated to Barbados in 2008, followed by another move to Jamaica in 2018. CDC works to support the Government of Jamaica and other partners in-country to reach the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 95-95-95 goals and accelerate HIV epidemic control through support of adoption of World Health Organization (WHO) and globally known best practices. The UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets are, by 2030: 95 percent of all people living with HIV (PLHIV) will know their HIV status; 95 percent of all people with diagnosed HIV will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART); and 95 percent of all people receiving ART will have viral suppression. CDC’s main goals are to: Improve access to quality services for PLHIV; re-engage people living with HIV (PLHIV) lost to follow-up and retain them on treatment to achieve viral suppression; enhance laboratory capacity and improve viral load testing services; and improve data access and quality, particularly for key populations to inform program decisions.

Jamaica is CDC CRO’s priority country due to its higher HIV/AIDS burden and clinical cascade challenges. To reach epidemic control, CDC will work with partners to address key barriers to accessing care, treatment initiation, retention in care, and viral suppression. CDC’s main objectives include finding the undiagnosed persons, initiating ART among PHLIV not currently on treatment, and achieving viral suppression among PHLIV who are on ART. International best practices and policies based on WHO recommendations will be fast-tracked in order to accelerate progress. Disaggregated epidemiological and program data combined with key survey results will serve as the driver for targeted interventions.

Jamaica.pdf