THREE REPRESENTING ANGUILLA AT HIV/AIDS CONFERENCE

Three persons left Anguilla on Thursday this week for The Bahamas to attend the first Caribbean HIV/AIDS conference of its kind. It will be held from Saturday November 18 to Monday 21.

Mrs. Demis-Adams

The Anguilla delegation comprises the recently-appointed Director of the National STI and HIV/AIDS Programme, MaezaDemis-Adams; John Lake, President and CEO of the Anguilla Community Action Network (ACAN) Foundation;and Hyacinth Augustine,Coordinator/Director (whose substantive post is Programme Officer in the Department of Youth and Culture).

Mr. Lake

“The conference will be attended by about 2,500 participants from throughout the region,” Mrs. Demis-Adams, told The Anguillian. “The focus of the conference will be on the theme: ‘Strengthening Evidence To Achieve Sustainable Action.’ It should be a wonderful conference. We are going to be exposed to many presenters on evidenced-based practices that have worked in the Caribbean.”

Ms. Augustine

Mr. Lake said the conference would assist him and Ms. Augustine: in building network relations; strengthening community outreach programmes; accessing funds; and looking at matters relating to care and treatment.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Demis-Adams sees the conference as being of special benefit to her. “As the new Director of the National STI and HIV/AIDS Programme, I am especially looking forward to the conference and to gaining a lot of strategies that can be implemented in Anguilla,” she stated.

Before assuming her present appointment, sheserved as a Registered Nurse in the Dialysis Unit for three-and-a-half years; and then as a Health Educator for one year at the Health Promotion Unit.

“HIV/AIDS is an issue in Public Health where I like working, so I felt the need to go over to that service,” she told The Anguillian. “I felt the need for a young, vibrant voice in the National AIDS Programme and that I would be good in promoting the message. In this region, HIV/AIDS is a major threat to our public health, and I felt that the programme needed someone with passion and love for public health and that is why I applied and I think it was with God’s help that I was successful. I really hope to make an impact on the lives of persons in Anguilla in relation to HIV/ADS.”

Mrs. Demis-Adams is a graduate of Long Island University, in New York, where she obtained a B.Sc. degree in Nursing. She became a Registered Nurse (RN) in 2007 also after attending that university. She is currently working towards a Master’s degree in Public Health.