FORMER HEAD of the National HIV/AIDS Commission Dr Carol Jacobs says the failure of governments in Barbados and across the region to specifically legislate against discrimination of people with HIV has been a major disappointment.
She made the point while addressing the second of two graduation ceremonies of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) on Saturday evening.
Jacobs, who received an honorary doctor of science degree from the university, said: “Probably my greatest disappointment over the years has been not seeing at the bare minimum, specific anti-discrimination legislation passed in Barbados or indeed in countries across the Caribbean.”
She added: “After agreeing to volunteer to sit on the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners AIDS Task Force in the mid-1980s, I was struck by the extent of the discrimination against people living with HIV, primarily young people,” she said. (LK)
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