Inequality fuels HIV epidemic in Caribbean

By Michelle Nurse Last updated Feb 13, 2015

HIV activist edison-liburd — Outspoken artist Edison Liburd, in St. John’s, Antigua. (photo via Desmond Brown/IPS)

At 49 years old, Edison Liburd has established himself as one of Antigua and Barbuda’s most recognisable artists. But Liburd was not always in the spotlight. In fact, you could say he was a man in hiding.[su_pullquote align=”right”]”Equity and social justice are very important as we respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. HIV is as much a social and developmental disease as a medical one.” — Eleanor Frederick [/su_pullquote]

“I have been infected with the HIV virus for about 24 years. I got my first HIV test done in February of 1993 at the Allen Pavilion Hospital in Manhattan New York,” Liburd told IPS.

“I can remember that day vividly. I felt like the earth had been removed from beneath me when I was handed the results of the test.”