Global Fund pledges US$26m to Jamaica’s HIV/AIDS fight

(From left) Dr Kevin Harvey, director of Jamaica’s National HIV/STI Programme; Health Minister Rudyard Spencer; Lelio Marmora, regional team leader of the Global Fund; and Patrik Silborn, portfolio manager of the Global Fund at yesterday’s press briefing to mark the receipt of US$26 million from the fund to assist the fight against HIV/AIDS for the next three years. The money is not expected to be available to Jamaica thereafter as a result of the country’s classification — according to the World Bank’s indices — as a upper middle-income country. However, Spencer said yesterday that efforts are underway to make representations with a view to having the classification amended to reflect the reality of the country’s status. (Photo: Pat Roxborough-Wright)