HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean and Central America

Publication Date: April 2008

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

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Abstract:

The AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean and Central America has begun to have negative consequences for economic and social development, and continued increases in HIV infection rates threaten future development prospects. In contrast to other parts of Latin America, the mode of HIV transmission in several Caribbean and Central American countries has been primarily through heterosexual contact, making the disease difficult to contain because it affects the general population. The Caribbean countries with the highest prevalence or infection rates are Haiti, with a rate over 3%; the Bahamas, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, with rates over 2%; and Barbados, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Suriname, with rates over 1%. In Central America, Honduras has the highest prevalence rate of 1.8%, while Guatemala has a rate over 1%.

The response to the AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean and Central America has involved a mix of support by governments in the region, bilateral donors (such as the United States, Canada, and European nations), regional and multilateral organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Many countries in the region have national HIV/AIDS programs that are supported through these efforts.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been the lead U.S. agency fighting the epidemic abroad since 1986. USAID's funding for HIV/AIDS in Central America and the Caribbean rose from $11.2 million in FY2000 to $33.8 million in FY2003. Because of the inclusion of Guyana and Haiti as focus countries in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), U.S. assistance to the region for HIV/AIDS increased to $47 million in FY2004, $82.5 million in FY2005, and $92.7 million in FY2006. The FY2007 request is for $113 million, with $25 million for Guyana and $63 million for Haiti.

In the first session of the 109th Congress, Congress approved H.R. 1409 (P.L. 109-95), which authorizes assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries, including in the Caribbean. Pending legislative initiatives in the second session include S. 600, the Foreign Affairs Authorization Act, FY2006 and FY2007, which contains a provision (Section 2516) that would add14 Caribbean countries to the list of focus countries targeted for increased HIV/AIDS assistance; H.R. 164, which would provide for the establishment of pediatric centers in developing countries, including Guyana, to provide treatment and care for children with HIV/AIDS; and S. 350 and H.R. 945, which would provide assistance to combat infectious diseases in Haiti, including HIV/AIDS. As in past years, FY2007 appropriations for HIV/AIDS assistance in the Caribbean and Central America are to be funded through the Foreign Operations appropriations bill.

This report, which will be updated periodically, examines the characteristics and consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean and Central America and the response to the epidemic in the region. For additional information, see CRS Report RL33485, U.S. International HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Spending: FY2004-FY2007, and CRS Report RL31712, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria: Background and Current Issues.