These concerns were highlighted at the regional Meeting of Ministers of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean held in Havana in November 2002 when there was ready recognition that the disease will not be overcome without the full involvement of the education sector.

The facts surrounding the dreaded disease in the Caribbean are indeed alarming. The rate of HIV transmission is second only to what is occurring in Sub Saharan Africa, which is the epicentre of the malady and threatens to deprive the entire Caribbean region of much of its youth population, its productivity and economic potential. With an HIV prevalence rate among adults in sub-Saharan Africa of 9.0 per cent, no region in the world is affected by HIV/AIDS as severely as the Caribbean. The Caribbean with some 30 territories and about 36 million people is 2-3 times more severely HIV/AIDS infected than the world at large.

LOWEST LEVELS

In this scenario, Cuba with a wide-ranging prevention and treatment programme, backed by strong political action, has the lowest levels of AIDS prevalence and HIV infection in the western hemisphere and one of the lowest HIV positive rates in the world. The authors feel that Cuba's ability to contain the epidemic merits further investigation and the emulation of its success.

But there is hope. Embedded in the devastation of the present crisis are opportunities for constructive change.

"Education," the authors say, "can be a powerful force ­ perhaps the most powerful of all in combating the spread of HIV/AIDS."Helene-Marie Gosselin, Director, UNESCO Office for the Caribbean says the publication "is most timely". She adds that for governments and leaders of caribbean society, it is a 'wake-up' call on the critical role of education ­ both formal and non-formal ­ as multisectoral responses to HIV/AIDS are being fashioned.

The book is a valuable resource for those people who need precise information on HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean. It has 11 chapters and is complete with illustrations on the socio-economic, health and gender aspects of the disease.

The chapters look at the global epidemic and the epidemic in the caribbean; HIV/AIDS and Education; addressing the epidemic through new roles for Education, preventing the spread of the disease through education, managing the Education Sector Response to HIV/AIDS; Responding to Special HIV/AIDS imperatives and finally A Summary of Strategic approaches that looks at ten lines of action.

In January 2000, the United Nations Security Council held its first ever debate on a health or development issue when it debated the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In July 2000 the heads of government of CARICOM publicly recognised the threat of the epidemic and followed it up with the establishment of the Pan-Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) in February 2001.

The book shows how the disease is facilitated by poverty; how the vulnerability of the poor to HIV infection is accentuated for women and girls and that ignorance about HIV risks is widespread especially in the early years of sexual activity.

MAJOR THESIS

A major thesis of the book is that the education sector has a responsibility to ensure that correct information reaches young people around the world in ways that will speak to them and that will help them make these messages their own.UNAIDS has noted that 'the heterosexual epidemics of HIV infection in the Caribbean are driven by the deadly combination of early sexual activity and frequent partner exchange by young people."

78 per cent of Caribbean boys and 40 per cent of girls become sexually active before they enter their teens.The authors say that in many respects the region still awaits a comprehensive, dynamic and wide-ranging response to the epidemic and that the education sector in the region has the potential to provide the leadership in spearheading this response.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

There is important information about HIV/AIDS and Haiti. That country is experiencing a very severe HIV/AIDS epidemic. In response the Ministry of Education Youth and Sports in 2002 undertook the development of a strategic plan that would draw maximum benefit from education in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.

"This is the first national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS and Education in the Caribbean and still one of the very few in the world. As such it deserves special consideration and where appropriate, emulation ­ Haiti has marked out a path that, with modifications to suit their circumstances, other countries could well follow."

"The World has come to acknowledge that HIV/AIDS is more than a health issue - it is a development issue that reaches into every area of human endeavour," the authors say.

It is therefore vital that the entire community be involved: the school community, the local community including parents and custodians of social values - religious leaders, journalists, musicians, and sports and media personalities.

The authors feel that Caribbean countries need to ensure that every young person leaving school or graduating from an education programme is well informed on behaviours that carry the risk of HIV infection and those that do not.

Universities in the Caribbean are duty-bound, they say, to respond to the challenge posed by HIV/AIDS in the fields of human resource development, research and strategic engagement with society.

Education and HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean points the way to reach people who are outside of the formal education system ­ street children, the homeless, people in prison. It also looks at the special needs of orphans and children who are made vulnerable by the disease.

Michael J. Kelly is Professor of Education at the University of Zambia, Lusaka and a member of the Jesuit Order. Over the years he has become increasingly involved in analysing and documenting the potential of HIV/AIDS to undermine education systems.