Barbados continues to record a low HIV positivity rate but must now bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the country’s HIV response, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr The Most Honourable Jerome Walcott said on Thursday.In his World AIDS Day statement on Thursday, Dr Walcott reported that thanks to several levels of intervention by the Government since the late 90s, cases on the island have remained low.“The prevalence of HIV in Barbados is estimated to be 1.5 per cent in persons aged 15 to 49 years of age,” he said.“As a result of the provision of combination antiretroviral therapy since 2001, HIV has become a manageable chronic illness with reduced morbidity and significantly reduced mortality. In the last decade, the annual number of reported deaths amongst persons living with HIV remained below 60, compared to the highest reported figures of 120 in 1998.”
