The Tribune

US Chargé d’Affaires John Dinkelman announced the winners of the 2012 President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Small Grants Programme.

The announcement was made during a formal presentation at the US Embassy on Friday, May 25. Three organisations were selected to receive a total of $12,000 in funding to promote HIV/AIDS awareness.

As the Caribbean region has the second highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world, the embassy’s continued support of HIV/AIDS awareness in the Bahamas is in direct response to President Barack Obama’s pledge to support the global fight against HIV/AIDS through PEPFAR, a worldwide programme launched in 2003 to combat and limit the spread of the disease.

The main goals of the PEPFAR grants include: educating people, especially young people, about HIV/AIDS and thereby preventing its spread; reducing stigma for those living with the disease; and encouraging people to get tested and seek treatment.

The embassy will announce a new PEPFAR grant opportunity in September as the new goal is to award funding twice a year.

This year’s grant award recipients will promote the following HIV/AIDS initiatives:

• The Grand Bahama Red Rose Ball Committee will conduct awareness workshops led by health experts targeting high school students on Grand Bahama, focusing on abstinence, prevention, and peer education. Training recipients then conduct their own outreach under a train-the-trainers model.