MARCH 2007 � The island nations that compose the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are emerging as an important subregion in Caribbean HIV control efforts. In recent years, the subregion has been particularly successful in mobilizing financial and technical resources from the international community to address HIV prevention and control issues.

Government officials from six OECS member states�Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines�have expressed concern about the increasing spread of HIV infection in their countries. None of the countries has had reliable national data to monitor prevalence and behavioral trends.

As a result, they requested financial and technical assistance from USAID in carrying out a series of behavioral and seroprevalence surveillance surveys focused on different population groups within their countries. In response, USAID provided financial resources and worked in collaboration with three implementing agencies�the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), Family Health International (FHI), and Barbados-based Phillips Consulting Group (PCG)�to execute behavioral surveys in the six islands in 2005�2006.