UNAIDS urges Africa to fast- track on AIDS response

The opening of the 18^th  International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) which is taking place from 29 November to 4 December in Harare, Joint United  Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) has urged countries to further accelerate their response to AIDS.

By Edward Makuzva

UNAIDS Regional Director Sheila Tlou said Africa is the brink of breaking the AIDS epidemic.

Tlou said Africa has five years to Fast- Track the AIDS response so that the epidemic cannot rebound.

“UNAIDS is hosting several special sessions at ICASA, including one to discuss its new Fast – Track Strategy.

“Fast- Track involves front loading investments in the AIDS response to reach an ambitious 90-90-90 treatment target by 2020.

“ Reaching this target would see 90% of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90% of people who know their  HIV positive status accessing treatment and 90 % of people on treatment having suppressed viral loads”, Tlou said.

The regional director said reaching the Fast- Track targets will also reduce new HIV infections by 75% and realize the vision of zero discrimination.

She added the strategy will see resources concentrated on locations and populations most at risk of HIV exposure.

The conference is taking place against a backdrop of great progress in the AIDS response, even though many challenges remain.

Tlou said worldwide 15, 8 million people now have access to life-saving antiretroviral medicines with more than 10 million people in sub Saharan now on treatment.

“ Based on the increased weight of scientific concerning earlier treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) has realized new guidance recommending that people  are offered to antiretroviral medicines as soon as possible after their HIV diagnosis regardless of their CD4 count” Tlou explained.

Statistics revealed that in Sub Saharan Africa, the number of AIDS related in 2014 was 48% lower than in 2005, while new infections have decline to 41% since 2000.

Scaled – up access to antiretroviral medicines in 21 high- priority countries has resulted in a fall of 48 % between 2009 and 2014 in the number of children becoming infected with HIV.

Tlou highlighted that African countries including Ethiopia, Mozambique, Namibia, South- Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, and Tanzania have experienced declines in the number of children becoming infected with HIV that exceed 60%.

Meanwhile, major challenges still remains across the continent and the same progress is not being seen among young women and girls aged 15-19 years old accounting for 71% of new HIV infections among this age group in Sub- Saharan Africa.

The conference is commemorated under theme “AIDS in post 2015: Linking leadership , Science and Human Rights”.