Thu, 22 Jun 2017 10:49:23 +0000
By KALOBWE BWALYA
ZAMBIA has called for increased regional dialogue among political, religious and traditional leaders to achieve the goals of reducing new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths among key populations in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
Zambia’s representatives at SAFAIDS regional consultative meeting, which is being held in Pretoria, South Africa, Sydney Mushanga, said the increased involvement of leadership from political, religious and traditional sectors will serve to address stigma and discriminatory practices in society.
Mr Mushanga, who is Central Province minister, said increased collaboration among influential members of society will improve access by key populations to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services among citizens of different governments in the SDAC region.
He noted that Zambia had shown political will in addressing HIV/AIDS related issues by rolling out health facilities in different parts of the country as well as upgrading some clinics into hospitals to ensure that its citizens had easy access to HIV prevention and treatment.
“Zambia’s participation at the regional consortium and consultative meeting stands to benefit the country through exchange of information and strategies that various member countries are using to prevent new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths among their populations,” said Mr Mushanga.
Zambia is among eight other countries that include Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Namibia that have formed a consortium, funded by the Global Funds, to implement the objective of reducing new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths among key populations.
