Eastern Caribbean Program Profile

In 2010, the Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) project began a four-year program in the eastern Caribbean funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The program included Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It supported the United States-Caribbean Regional HIV and AIDS Partnership Framework 2010–2014, a strategic plan for strengthening HIV prevention efforts in Caribbean countries. In accordance with the framework, the program sought improvements in four areas: strategic information dissemination, laboratory strengthening, human capacity development, and program sustainability. SHOPS used a multisectoral, participatory approach focused on sustainability and led by country partners. This profile presents the program’s context, goals, components, results, and the following lessons learned:

• Program implementation in the eastern Caribbean is complex and calls for a combination of country-specific and regional approaches.
• Continued efforts are needed to harness the region’s diverse and expansive private sector resources to address priority health needs and help sustain the HIV response.
• Participatory, multisectoral processes for identifying and addressing HIV priorities foster greater stakeholder support and program sustainability.
• Technology-based approaches are effective for increasing private sector participation in health data sharing.
• Further NGO capacity-building efforts are required to best serve key populations