Dominica is reporting a total of 444 confirmed cases of people infected with HIV/AIDS since the outbreak of the disease in 1987.

Head of the HIV/AIDS Prevention Unit, Alison Samuel, made that announcement during a two-day OECS Commission Capacity Meeting held at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) APU conference room.

“Currently, based on our data that we have collected over the years, we have  at the end of 2015, a total of 444 cases that have been confirmed HIV positive. That is, as cumulative from 1987 to 2015,” she said.

According to her, out of this total, there were some deaths, “so we have had a total of 159 accumulative people who have died over the years.”

Samuel said that the figures have been predominantly male.

“You have over 70 percent of male in these figures,” she noted.

She revealed that over 90 people are actively in care/accessing care.

“Every Monday whenever the clinics come up we have a percentage of that all anti-retroviral medication (ARVs),” she explained.

She stated further that 2030 is the target to eliminate HIV/AIDS for the entire region, “not just for Dominica.”

Samuel said also that a grant of US$103,000 dollars from the Global Grant Fund,
has been allocated for Dominica over a three year period, through the OECS Commission.