Welcome to the USAID-funded Health Policy Plus (HP+) project website.

Links to documents and external sites open in a new window.

Health Policy Plus logoHealth Policy + logo
Skip to contentSkip to footer
HP+ ended September 27, 2022

Better Policy for Better Health

  • About
    • Project Overview
    • Partners
    • Leadership
    • Contact
    • Work with Us
    • Home
  • Our Work
    • Family Planning
    • HIV
    • COVID-19 Response
    • Health Financing
    • Maternal Health
    • Modeling
    • Capacity Development
    • Gender
    • Health Equity
  • Countries
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Latin America & the Caribbean
  • Resources
    • Publications
    • Models
    • News
    • Viewpoints
    • Conferences & Events
    • Webinars

Jamaica

map with Jamaica highlighted

Overview

The Caribbean has the highest rate of HIV prevalence outside of sub-Saharan Africa, and Jamaica has the highest HIV rate among all English-speaking countries in the region. Jamaica’s epidemic is concentrated among key populations, with men who have sex with men being 20 times more likely to be living with HIV than Jamaicans in the general population. Jamaica's HIV epidemic is also driven by high levels of stigma and discrimination and gender-based violence, all of which act as barriers to accessing HIV testing and treatment—and, by extension, contributing to the spread of infection.

Publications

Five Ways to Accelerate Progress Toward the 95-95-95 Goals
Five Ways to Accelerate Progress Toward the 95-95-95 Goals
Positive Health, Dignity, and Prevention: Training Modules for Promoting Leadership among Persons Living with HIV, Second Edition
Positive Health, Dignity, and Prevention: Training Modules for Promoting Leadership among Persons Living with HIV, Second Edition
Health Policy Plus: Jamaica
Health Policy Plus: Jamaica
View all Jamaica Publications

What We Do

HP+ worked in Jamaica from January 2016 to March 2020 to reduce discrimination, promote gender equality, and combat gender-based violence throughout the country. The project worked alongside healthcare providers, community leaders, and government partners to strengthen Jamaica’s national HIV response. Specifically, HP+ Jamaica:

  • Worked with the Jamaican Ministry of Health to implement and evaluate a comprehensive package for reducing stigma and discrimination toward people living with HIV and key populations in health facility settings
  • Trained healthcare providers and national health leaders to understand how key populations experience gender-based violence, forming a basis for promoting measures to increase the reporting of such assaults and stimulating a more effective linkage to care for those assaulted and their dependents
  • Oriented healthcare workers, people living with HIV, key population community leaders, and many others to the Positive Health, Dignity, and Prevention operational guidelines created by Global Network for and by People Living with HIV (GNP+) and UNAIDS
  • Worked with government and civil society partners to strengthen the national system for reporting and seeking redress for discrimination, including the reporting of discrimination at the facility level

News

HP+ Staff Recognized for Outstanding Contributions in HIV Response
HP+ Staff Recognized for Outstanding Contributions in HIV Response
Jamaica's Redress Rebrand: One Step Closer to Stigma-Free Facilities
Jamaica's Redress Rebrand: One Step Closer to Stigma-Free Facilities
Strengthening Jamaica's HIV Response with Positive Health, Dignity, and Prevention
Strengthening Jamaica's HIV Response with Positive Health, Dignity, and Prevention
View all Jamaica News

Project Impacts

HP+ Staff Recognized for Outstanding Contributions in HIV Response

December 2017 — 

HP+ Jamaica Country Director, Sandra McLeish, and HP+ Senior Associate, Ryan Ubuntu Olson, were recognized by local stakeholders and media for their outstanding contributions to the HIV and AIDS responses. Sandra was presented with an award from Ricky Pascoe, JN+ President, and Dr. Jennifer Knight Johnson, USAID Jamaica. Ryan, who was named to the Clinton Global Initiative University’s Honor Roll in October, received a mention in the Washington Blade. More details are available in our news article.

Combating HIV-related Stigma and Discrimination and Strengthening Redress in Jamaica

December 2017 — 

To raise awareness and promote redress, the Jamaican Network of Seropositives (JN+) re-branded the Jamaica Anti-discrimination System for HIV (JADS), formerly the National HIV-Related Discrimination Reporting and Redress System. Through JADS, Jamaicans can report cases of HIV-related discrimination and potentially receive mediation and/or damages. For the past several years, USAID and PEPFAR through the Health Policy Plus (HP+) project, and its predecessor Health Policy Project, has been supporting JN+ and the Ministry of Health, a JN+ redress partner, to strengthen and evaluate their redress systems and address HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

Curriculum Endorsed as a Valuable Tool in Achieving Global HIV Targets

March 2017 — 

Ahead of Country Operational Plan reviews, the USAID- and PEPFAR-supported Health Policy Plus project—along with representatives from the Jamaica Ministry of Health, Jamaican civil society, and USAID—presented updates to their Positive, Health, Dignity, and Prevention (PHDP) Training Modules, to USAID staff and missions around the world. The webinar highlighted key changes to the PHDP—a curriculum by and for people living with HIV and key populations to promote personal health and advocate for high-quality HIV services—and its potential application in settings outside of Jamaica. During the February 2017 webinar, Dr. Chevannes, executive director of Jamaica’s National Family Planning Board, Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency Health commented, “…I wish to endorse the critical importance of PHDP in helping the address the structural barriers that result in depressed treatment cascades through loss to follow up among communities of persons living with HIV as well as key populations. As Jamaica moves to Test and Start PHDP is a valuable tool in achieving the 90-90-90 targets.” The revised PHDP will be available later this spring. 

  • About
    • Project Overview
    • Partners
    • Leadership
    • Contact
    • Work with Us
    • Home
  • Our Work
    • Family Planning
    • HIV
    • COVID-19 Response
    • Health Financing
    • Maternal Health
    • Modeling
    • Capacity Development
    • Gender
    • Health Equity
  • Countries
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Latin America & the Caribbean
  • Resources
    • Publications
    • Models
    • News
    • Viewpoints
    • Conferences & Events
    • Webinars
Privacy Policy Sitemap Staff Intranet

CONTACT US

Health Policy Plus
1331 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20004
policyinfo@thepalladiumgroup.com

Health Policy Plus (HP+) is a seven-year cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development under Agreement No. AID-OAA-A-15-00051, beginning August 28, 2015. HP+ is implemented by Palladium, in collaboration with Avenir Health, Futures Group Global Outreach, Plan International USA, Population Reference Bureau, RTI International, ThinkWell, and the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood.

USAID-from the American People

The information provided on this website is not official U.S. Government information and does not necessarily represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Hosting and © 2016 by For technical issues contact us.webmaster@thepalladiumgroup.com.