HIV care book showcased at Caribbean conference

A Commonwealth publication highlighting the plight of unpaid HIV carers was well received at the Caribbean HIV Conference on Strengthening Evidence to Achieve Sustainable Action.

The book ‘Who Cares? The Economics of Dignity’ was showcased at the 18-21 November 2011 conference in The Bahamas where Dr Edward Greene, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, drew special attention to the publication during the closing plenary. The conference underscored the protection of human rights as a fundamental prerequisite to an effective response to HIV. The conference honoured the late Dr Robert Carr, a Commonwealth HIV expert and a Caribbean son.

The conference is part of the regional build up to the 2012 World AIDS Conference in July 2012 in Washington DC.

One of the book’s authors, Dr Meena Shivdas, of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Social Transformation Programmes Division, presented the research behind the book to the conference.

“Participants acknowledged that unpaid carers were often missing from policy and programmes on treatment and care,” she said.

The Commonwealth Secretariat will mark World AIDS Day on 1 December with a message from the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, and Mark Richmond, Director of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development and Global Coordinator for HIV and AIDS at UNESCO.

A short documentary film with case studies from the publication ‘Who Cares? The Economics of Dignity’ will be screened, followed by youth initiatives in the Commonwealth which address social issues, as part of World AIDS Day.

‘Who Cares? The Economics of Dignity’ by Dr Marilyn Waring, the late Dr Robert Carr, Dr Anit Mukherjee and Dr Meena Shivdas was launched at Marlbrough House in London, in October this year.

Information about the book