Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson Minister Ministry of Health 2-4 King Street Kingston, Jamaica Dear. Minister, We need your support and leadership to get a written commitment from the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) by March 15, 2012 that we will fund treatment for people living with HIV (PLHIV). Since 2004, a public access to treatment programme, supported by the Global Fund, has been providing treatment to more than 8000 persons living with advanced HIV or AIDS. However, not all persons who need treatment are currently on the programme. The Global Fund has had difficulty raising funds and has announced the postponement of its next round of funding until 2014. By July 2013 Jamaica’s funding for antiretroviral treatment will dry up, but we still have to get more of our loved ones on antiretroviral treatment. Treatment keeps people alive and reduces the risk of HIV transmission to others by 96%. With AIDS treatment we can stop deaths and, combined with other efforts, we can halt new infections. With the government's commitment, we could significantly reduce HIV and AIDS incidence and prevalence in Jamaica. If you work to fund and expand access to treatment dramatically—and defend the AIDS funding needed to do it—the People's National Party (PNP) could be the first political party to provide a significant investment to halt and reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS by 2015. There has been a significant decline in deaths due to AIDS and an improvement in the survival and quality of life of persons living with HIV (PLHIV), a direct consequence of free access to ARV treatment. Universal access to antiretroviral treatment must be achieved, but it is impossible without funding from the government. This is critical to reduce HIV infections and AIDS deaths, but the limited money available internationally means the Government of Jamaica must fund HIV treatment. Please do everything in your power to ensure that the Ministry of Health gets the funding it needs to cover the cost for HIV treatment, care and support. Sincerely,