Photo Credit: ZNBC
By Lumbiwe Mwanza
Health Minister Jonas Chanda says Zambia has made remarkable progress in the battle against HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Chanda further said the southern African country has scaled up investment in health care in a bid to enhance access to health services.
Speaking recently during the Virtual National Adolescents and Youth HIV Surge indaba 2021, held under the theme “Adolescents voices for HIV,” Dr. Chanda said among notable progress made, is the suppression of the viral load by 95% which will translate into reduced transmission rate.
He noted that in Zambia today, nine out of ten infected patients are on Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and therefore called for ways in which adolescents can be part of the effective elimination of the epidemic.
“Let’s us all show support to all adolescents living with HIV/AIDS and show them how they can live positively,” Dr. Chanda stated and highlighted that stigma and discrimination is still a reality which needs to be addressed.
Dr. Chanda stressed that there are also other health challenges facing adolescents such as sexually transmitted infections as well as gender-based violence (GBV) which require smart investments in health care systems to prevent.
He further revealed that 48,000 people each year get infected in Zambia with the HIV virus attributing this to ignorance.
Meanwhile, speaking earlier at the same event, Zambia’s First Lady Esther Lungu noted the need to out-scale all HIV preventive programs in view of reducing new infections in the country.
Mrs. Lungu observed that to date adolescents and young people still have challenges to access HIV testing services which she said leads to new infections in communities.
She pointed out that misconceptions among young people on HIV still remains a worry hence the need for them to continue seeking information for trained health personals.
She further noted the need for young people to seek guidance from experts regarding the HIV pandemic to be able to take a leading role in preventing the spread of the virus.
She noted with concern on the increase in HIV infection rate amongst the sexually active youths in the country which she said requires up scaling of programs and awareness to effectively address the pandemic.
The first lady said the time for youths to just sit idle and watch the trend continue is no longer there but requires concerted efforts to prevent new HIV infections through enhanced epidemic control measures.
“Rise and speak your mind and engage with us your parents. My door is open,” Mrs. Lungu assured.
She has since called for enhanced access to HIV services as well as comprehensive knowledge about the epidemic in order for the youths to be well equipped to effectively fight the disease as key partners.
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