TIMING 

People with HIV/AIDS can stay healthy. To keep a person healthy, their medical team must start medication on time (this can be years after initial infection), monitor the disease all the time, give the right drugs at the right time, and sometimes even change the prescription. The medical team uses regular testing to determine when to begin treatment and when to switch drugs. Timing is crucial.

 TESTING 

Testing and reviews happen like clockwork in a few, fortunate centres of excellence in the Caribbean. But routine testing is a massive problem across most of the region. We don't have enough testing centres located where people need them and – most important of all – we lack the skilled specialists to operate the test equipment and lack laboratory infrastructure to deliver life-saving drugs. 

 TRAINING 

We need to train more specialists – fast. If we don't, people affected by HIV/AIDS face an unnecessary death sentence. If we do, their problem becomes a manageable chronic disease. Living with HIV/AIDS can be no more of a burden than living with, say, diabetes.

 TECHNOLOGY 

That's why the CCAS is "Fighting HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean through the spread of technology". We want every country across the region to learn about and use the technology that saves lives.

 STATISTICS 

Over 330,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean with a total population of 24 million (a far higher incidence than in the US, where 1 million are affected in a population of 300 million). Only 23% of people affected by HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean are receiving the treatment they need. Pockets of excellence exist; it can be done.

 SCIENCE 

As well as being properly administered, antiretroviral therapy (ART) must be closely monitored, as often as monthly, and never less than at six-month intervals. This is because a person's immune system can weaken, the virus can multiply faster than expected, and the HIV virus typically becomes drug resistant during treatment. Two specialist tests – flow cytometry and PCR – measure the patient's CD4 cells and viral load in the blood. Diagnostic accuracy requires appropriate equipment, specialist training and tight quality assurance programs. Human resource development is vital.