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KK urges against complacency in AIDS fight after UN report

KK urges against complacency in AIDS fight after UN report
By Joseph Mwenda
Mon 20 Sep. 2010, 14:00 CAT

Dr. Kenneth Kaunda has said the UN report that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are leading a global decline in new HIV infections should not cause complacency among organisations fighting the pandemic.

Speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Dr. Kaunda said it was good news that the worst affected countries on the continent had seen a 25 per cent decrease in new HIV infection. UNAIDS said 22 countries in the world's worst affected region had seen a drop in new cases of more than 25 per cent.

“We are trying here, Africa is trying. I think we used to be at 20 per cent somewhere to 14 per cent and then… I think we are working very hard also,” observed Dr Kaunda, who as Republican president disclosed that his son, Masuzyo, had died of AIDS.

“But we are still a long way, we are still far from reaching a point where we can be proud and say we can rest now. No, not yet.”
Dr. Kaunda said the UN report should instead boost Africa and Zambia’s efforts in the fight against AIDS.

“It is good news and an indication that we are getting somewhere with the fight against AIDS, and the whole of Africa’s and Zambia particularly must fight as one in reducing the infection rates even further,” said Dr. Kaunda.

According to the UNAIDS report released over the weekend, the fall in HIV infections was as a result of greater awareness campaigns and better use of preventative measures.

UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe, said the world was making "real progress" towards achieving the sixth Millennium Development Goal (MDG6) of halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

“For the first time change is happening at the heart of the ‘epidemic’. In places where HIV was stealing away dreams, we now have hope,” he said.

UNAIDS says there are now 5.2 million people worldwide receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS.
The report also said countries most severely affected by the pandemic could not handle the crisis with their own resources alone.

The agency said young people “are leading the prevention revolution by choosing to have sex later, having fewer multiple partners and using condoms”.

The report also said the use of male condoms has also doubled in the past five years, while "tradition is giving space to pragmatism" in many communities as they embrace male circumcision, which research shows has the potential to reduce HIV infections among men by nearly 60 per cent.

Meanwhile, UNAIDS has also noted that cases of HIV were increasing in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and among gay men in developed countries.

Labels: CORRUPTION, KENNETH KAUNDA, UNAIDS

posted by MrK @ 6:25 PM