26 Nov 2018

The 2018 World AIDS Day will be commemorated in Mochudi on Saturday.

Themed Know your status, this year’s commemoration will also mark the 30th anniversary of the commemorations which have been used to unite community efforts to stop new HIV infections and to support those affected by HIV and remember those who had lost their lives to HIV-related diseases.

Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, education, communication and advocacy manager from National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA), Mr Joseph Kefas said it was critical for  the country to work together to accelerate progress toward ending HIV as a public health threat.

He said significant progress had been made in the AIDS response since 1988, adding that today three in four people living with HIV know their status.

He, however, said the nation still had miles to go in reaching people living with HIV who did not know their status and ensuring that they were linked to quality care and prevention services.

“Join us this World AIDS Day in raising awareness about the importance of knowing one’s status and calling for the removal of all barriers to accessing HIV testing,” he said.

Mr Kefas noted that HIV testing was essential for expanding treatment and ensuring that all people living with HIV lead healthy and productive lives.

He said it was also crucial to achieve the 90–90–90 targets and empower people to make choices about HIV prevention so they could protect themselves and their loved ones.

Unfortunately, many barriers like stigma and discrimination still deter people from taking an HIV test thus making many people to get tested only after becoming ill and symptomatic,” he said.

He further explained that government had initiated new ways of expanding access to HIV testing including self-testing, community-based testing and multi-disease testing.

Mr Kefas explained that since the beginning of the epidemic, partnerships among governments, institutions, private sector, community-based organisations had been key to support HIV programmes.

“We now have the tools needed to control the epidemic and lay the groundwork for ending this disease.

To reach that goal, we must continue to strengthen our partnerships, be accountable in using resources as efficiently and effectively as possible, and be transparent in making sure our work delivers the results we need,” said Mr Kefas. Ends