Lusaka, 4th December 2015 - Zambia joined the international community to commemorate the World AIDS Day under the theme “Zambia’s future, Getting to Zero New HIV Infections.” The WHO Country Office provided financial support towards the commemoration of this event and was part of the events in Livingstone, Southern province, which was the venue for the national commemoration. The national World AIDS Day commemoration was officially launched through a television broadcast by the Minister of Health on 30th November 2015.

In Livingstone, the national commemoration was preceded by various activities organized by partners and stakeholders to create awareness about the theme and stimulate positive behavior for HIV prevention, treatment and addressing stigma in the communities. For example, road shows were conducted in the communities to promote condom use.

On 30th November, the First Lady, Mrs Esther Lungu conducted a familiarization visit to Mahatma Ghandi and Linda Clinics to obtain an insight of services which are offered with a specific emphasis on HIV/AIDS. Linda Clinic served as a best practice for the involvement of young people in the HIV/AIDs response. The First Lady was informed that the youth not only participated but also took leadership roles in various activities at community level. She committed her office to advocate for improvement of health services by Government at the health facilities.

The Livingstone District Medical Office led other partners and stakeholders in organizing the World AIDS Day candlelight memorial service and walk which was also conducted on 30th November. The Provincial Minister for Southern Province, Hon. Nathaniel Mubukwanu was Guest of Honor at this event. In his remarks, the Minister expressed concern that while the national HIV prevalence rate had decreased, the rate of infection for Livingstone was very high as it was estimated to be 25%, the highest in the country. The Minister urged those living with HIV/AIDs to adhere to treatment and also called upon employers not to stigmatise people living with HIV/AIDS, instead to respect everyone according to the constitution.

On 1st December, the Provincial Minister for Southern Province Hon. Nathaniel Mubukwanu flagged off the March past in the presence of the First Lady, Mrs Esther Lungu who was the Guest of Honour. Representatives from the different organisations and members of the public joined in the march past with banners echoing their commitment to the theme of “Getting to Zero New HIV Infections”.

In his statement to mark World AIDs Day, the Provincial Minister Hon. Nathaniel Mubukwanu emphasized the need to target adolescents with comprehensive HIV/AIDS information and services. He also called upon the nation to re-double its efforts on HIV/AIDS through a multi-sectoral response and emphasised the need to bring HIV cases and stigma to zero by focusing on prevention, treatment, support and human rights.

At the same occasion, the UNICEF Representative, Dr. Hamid Elbashir gave a statement on behalf of the UN Family in Zambia. He stated that there was cause to celebrate the achievements Zambia had made in the fight against HI/AIDS, particularly that the rate of new HIV infections dropped by 41% between 2009 and 2013 while the rate of HIV in children stood at 37%. Dr. Elbashir also recognized the fact that between 2005 and 2013 there was a 60% reduction in AIDS– related deaths and that 700,000 people are put on treatment annually while 2 million are counselled and tested each year. However, he said that Zamia was still among the 10 top countries in the world with the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS and that the country contributed 3% of the Global HIV/Aids disease burden. He said stopping AIDS was part of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda and that the UN Family in Zambia was committed to supporting the New UNAIDS 90/90/90 target aimed at achieving 90% people knowing their status / 90% who are positive put on treatment/90% reduction on viral load for those put on treatment.

The First Lady, Mrs Esther Lungu, in her capacity as Guest of Honour made a statement to mark the World AIDS Day in Zambia. Her statement focused more on the prevention of HIV infection in young people and the need to scale up services. She said that adolescents aged 10-19 were vulnerable to HIV infection.  The First lady said that the Ministry of Education had reported that in 2012 a total of 11,000 girls had dropped out of school as a result of pregnancy, while 13,000 dropped out in 2013 and 16,000 in 2014. She called upon all stakeholders to protect young girls from social and cultural practices which put them at risk of infection. The First lady also called for a multi- sectoral response in implementing the new national HIV strategic framework which was launched in March 2015.

His Royal Highness Chief Mukuni also spoke on the involvement of traditional leaders and communities in the fight against HIV and AIDS. He said that his chiefdom received support from PEPFAR which was used to intervene on the problem of young girls who were dropping out of school and being forced into early marriage.

The Board Chairperson for the National HIV/AIDS Council, Dr. George Tembo recognized the achievements made so far in the fight against the pandemic.  However, he emphasized the need to address prevention especially among the adolescents and to fight stigma as a major barrier to access of services. He also called for resource mobilization from local resources as opposed to over- reliance on external donors to finance HIV/AIDS interventions.

The Representative from the United States President’s Plan for AIDs Relief (PEPFAR) indicated that the US government had spent an estimated 2.6 billion US dollars in Zamia on HIV/AIDS since 2004. PEPFAR’s focus in Zambia was currently on two projects targeting adolescents aged 10-24 years and that of treatment for children aged 0-19 months as a way of putting the nation on a path to an AIDS free generation.

A Representative from the Network of Zambian People Living with HIV/AIDS commended Government for its commitment to the fight against HIV/ Aids and called for more support to grassroots organisations.

The First Lady was joined by various partners and stakeholders in touring exhibition stands at Villa grounds where various organisations show-cased the various programmes and activities from policy to the community level action. The organisations distributed various health education and information materials to the participants. Voluntary counselling and testing services for HIV/Blood pressure/Blood sugar and others were offered while promotion of condoms, and male circumcision and family planning were also prominent. The event was full of entertainment in form of song and dance, poems and drama. The First Lady pledged continuous support to the cause of reducing the burden of disease due to HIV/AIDS.

A representative from the Network of Zambian People Living with HIV/Aids Ms Matilda Mulu gave a testimony on how she had been living positively with HIV/AIDS.  “ I have been on Anti -Retroviral Treatment for 15 years and 8 months , and I am okey” she said.  Her message was that it was important to test and know one’s status and to access treatment if one tested positive for HIV.

The event was organized through the umbrella of the Southern Province Medical Office and the Livingstone District Medical Office with support from partners and stakeholders. The WHO Country Office Provided funds for mounting of information billboards to advocate for action by stakeholders on the theme and  for radio announcement and the broadcast of the Ministerial launch.

The Statement of the WHO Regional Director Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, to mark the WAD was circulated to the local media.

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For More information, please contact:

Nora mweemba, Health Promotion Officer, Email: mweemban [at] who.int, Tel  No. +260 211 255322

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Below:

01. Different organizations joined the march past to commemorate World Aids Day in Livingstone

02. Members of the public benefited from various information and services provided by exhibitors at the Villa grounds in Livingstone

03. The First Lady, Mrs Esther Lungu receiving the salute from the marchers in Livingstone. ( Right) is the UNICEF Rep. Dr. Hamid Elbashir, Mrs Anne Mtonga, National Surveillance  Officer and the WHO Rep. Dr. Jacob Mufunda