Today is World Aids Day: Zimbabwe is one of the countries worst affected by the HIV pandemic with prevalence estimated at 12%, Health and Child Care ministry permanent secretary Aspect Maunganidze has said, amid calls to mobilise resources for response interventions.
Speaking at the Preventing HIV for Sustainable Epidemic Control (PREVENT) programme launch early this week, Maunganidze said:
“We have an estimated 1,3 million persons living with HIV and thanks to the support from our partners, 1,2 million of them are receiving antiretroviral treatment.”
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He said the ministry would continue to mobilise domestic resources for the HIV response interventions.
“The government will continue to prioritise the National Aids Trust Fund as we are working to activate a more encompassing social health insurance scheme to mobilise domestic resources for the HIV response and beyond to protect communities from catastrophic health costs.
“Government is planning to increase the domestic contribution to essential programmes like community health,” Maunganidze said.
“We are confident that the ongoing partnership with PEPFAR through USAid and with Population Solutions for Health will continue the decades-long record for technology innovation, market development, evidence-based and differentiated service delivery, including self-care and digital health — all for person-centred programming.”
In its preliminary report titled ‘Let Communities Lead,’ UNAids said underfunding and harmful barriers were holding back the lifesaving work of communities and obstructing the end of Aids.
UNAids said communities had a critical role in ending Aids as a public health threat at least by 2030.
“UNAids is urging governments across the world to unleash the power of grassroots communities across the world to lead the fight to end Aids,” the report read.
“Aids can be ended as a public health threat by 2030, but only if communities on the frontlines get the full support they need from governments and donors.”
The report highlighted that despite the clear evidence of community-led impact; community-led responses remain unrecognised, under-resourced and in some places even under attack.
“Crackdowns on civil society and on the human rights of marginalised communities are obstructing communities from providing HIV prevention and treatment services.
“Underfunding of community-led initiatives is leaving them struggling to continue operating and holding them back from expansion. If these obstacles are removed, community-led organisations can add even greater impetus to end Aids,” the report said.
UNAids executive director Winnie Byanyima said: “Communities across the world have shown that they are ready, willing and able to lead the way but they need the barriers obstructing their work to be pulled down, and they need to be properly resourced.”
She said communities were not in the way but light the way to the end of Aids. Community Working Group on Health executive director, Itai Rusike, said leadership and engagement of communities was necessary for ending Aids by 2030.
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