The Ministry of Health's National HIV/STI Control Programme in collaboration with the National AIDS Committee is the one authority in Jamaica and leads the national response to HIV &AIDS. It advocates for and coordinates the input of all sectors of the Jamaican society, including the private and public sectors and non-government organizations (NGOs). The Jamaica National HIV program implements strategies to achieve universal access to prevention treatment care and support. This includes scaling up prevention services, interventions for persons most at risk for HIV infection and, targeted community intervention, reduction of stigma and discrimination through sensitization and education, use of mass media, and establishment of mechanisms for monitoring and redress of cases of discrimination and the meaningful participation of PLWHIV.

USAID/Jamaica seeks to support the national HIV programs efforts to reach the most vulnerable population through existing NGOs/CBOs and faith based organizations by capitalizing on the strengths, positioning, and reach of these NGOs to these vulnerable groups. Jamaica has one of the highest prevalence rates in the region among the MSM and CSW population and this activity seeks to make an impact on reducing the new infection rates of persons contracting the disease and making an inroad into addressing the behaviors of these vulnerable populations. There will also be a focus on adolescents who practice high risk behaviors especially those who are part of the MSM and CSW community and found to be at high risk. These interventions are complimentary to the centrally funded C-Change activity that USAID/Jamaica plans to implement that seeks to provide technical support to the Government/NGO community in reaching MARPs and addressing their vulnerabilities. C-Change will transfer a mix of skills to the NGOs to ensure that they have the capacity to continue their outreach to vulnerable groups and become more sustainable when external funding declines. The GSM Project will provide support and capacity building to the MOH and local NGOs in the area of financial and administrative management. The PEPFAR grant to the MOH will be used primarily to directly assist the MOH in scaling up their existing HIV prevention and care services for MARPs. This activity supports a key focus area of the Partnership Framework by addressing the HIV epidemic in the Caribbean which is primarily due to sexual transmission. The data shows higher prevalence among persons engaged in high risk behaviors and an urgent need to reach these groups in various settings. USAID/Jamaica will support the HIV/STI Control programs in prevention education activities, peer to peer programming, development and dissemination of educational materials specially targeted at vulnerable groups etc. USAID and the MOH will coordinate all activities undertaken through PEPFAR and Global Fund to ensure harmonization and cost-effectiveness.

USAID/Jamaica through a grant to the National HIV/STI Control program will increase and strengthen the National HIV/STI Prevention and Control Programme of the Ministry of Health and transfer skills and strengthen their capacity to become more sustainable. Specifically to support its coverage among the most vulnerable groups targeting MARPS and focusing on adolescents, SW and MSM population . Jamaicas submission to the Global Fund for an anticipated $17million over a 5 year period was recently rejected which will hinder the planned scale-up of activities to reach vulnerable communities. USAID/Jamaica intends to help fill this gap through support to the national response to HIV with a major emphasis on transferring the skills to NGOs. Support will include strengthening their capacity to provide prevention education and addressing the increased vulnerability among MSM and CSW. This includes training workshops to empower participants and address risk behaviors. Educational materials will also be developed in coordination with PEPFAR and local partners. MSM and CSW will also be empowered to practice safe sex through their peers and outreach workers, skill building workshops and linkages to social services. Mapping exercises for sex worker and MSM sites will also be conducted as well as risk reduction interventions at MSM parties. Prevention education will be targeted at difficult to reach sex workers e.g. massage parlors and motels, to encourage safer sex practices and better treatment seeking behaviors. In addition there will be support through outreach activities targeting adolescents with information and skills to reduce their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS as well as engaging them reduction conversations and assessment. Athough data in Jamaica shows that there is an increase in tolerance of persons living with HIV & AIDS, high levels of stigma and discrimination exist.The Jamaica Network for Seropositive facilitates support groups that cater to the psycho-social needs of the PLHIV population. In keeping with the Partnership Frameworks thrust of addressing stigma and discrimination among MARPS and evenmoreso among the PLHIV population USAID/Jamaica would strengthen the Multisectoral Reporting and Redress Advisory Group to monitor the reporting of cases of HIV-related discrimination and redress and for continued development and implementation of a discrimination reporting and redress system and for the outreach activities of a Unit for GIPA (Greater Involvement of Persons Living with HIV and AIDS). USAID will also support work place and faith based programs addressing stigma and discrimination. Organizations will be provided with technical assistance to integrate HIV/AIDS workplace issues into the operations of selected small and medium sized businesses, along with the appropriate resources to carry out interventions. This workplace component will be spearheaded by the MOLSS with involvement from the MOH.

Supportive supervision and quality assurance will be the responsibility of the MOH who will play a key role in establishing a national minimum package of service for MARPs in order to ensure quality.