Health Minister, Sylvia Masebo has disclosed that 1,3 million Zambians are currently living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Speaking in Lusaka today during the event to commemorate HIV testing, counselling and treatment day, Ms. Masebo says 95. 7 percent of people living with the virus are aware of the status.
She said of the figure, an estimated number of 92.4 percent are accessing Anti-Retroviral Treatment.
The Minister said 80. 7 percent of those on treatment are virally suppressed.
Ms. Masebo said government is determined to ensure that the necessary goals in HIV interventions are met.
“Our goal is to ensure that we achieve all of the set targets especially those in which we are still lagging behind such as viral load suppression for people living with HIV by focusing on treatment initiatives in an effort to reach epidemic control and push towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030,” she said
She made an earnest appeal to men need to be more involved in the fight against HIV.
Ms. Masebo bemoaned that men are missing in the HIV response.
“Key to all these efforts is finding men and making them part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Available evidence increasingly points to the fact that our men are missing in the response to HIV,” she lamented.
Speaking on the same occasion, PEPFAR Country Coordinator Daphyne Williams disclosed that the United States government has this year spent 401 million US dollars in Zambia’s HIV response.
Ms. Williams said since 2004, PEPFAR has contributed a total amount of 4 billion United States dollars for Zambia’s national response to HIV.
She said to put HIV under complete control, there is need to ensure that everyone infected should get on treatment.
“If you are positive get on treatment and stay on treatment, be an example to your community and encourage others to get screened for HIV. If they are positive, encourage them to get on treatment and stay on treatment,” Ms Williams said.
And UN Resident Coordinator Coumba Mar Gadio said HIV can only come to end if HIV testing is accelerated.
Let’s hope the resources used to fight covid will now be used to fight hiv……
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majority are members of UPandDown now known as New Down.
Belinda nafwa herself
Most of these careless individuals are living in abject poverty… they need decent meals
Pf buying expired condoms n drugs mwaona manje
Well spoken Madam Minister. Wishing you success in your new challenge. Please work for the people and all will be well with you.
Masebo ex Gelo friend ya Kabimba….super spreader
Masebo ex Gelo friend ya Kabimba….super spreader.
There are has been poor policy on infecting others knowingly despite consent to sex due to non-disclosure of ones HIV status since his /her status is kept as secret- that gap needs to be closed because it amounts to criminal activity. Secondly, PEP drugs must be imported so that persons can take the drugs after unsafe sex because of poor quality sourced condoms .i.e. the virus can be stopped within 24hrs of infection.
“1,3 million Zambians living with HIV – Masebo”
I have a challenge for the new minister. To start with a clean slate, to know what is what, I suggest that Zambia creates a Demographic and Health Survey, based on 10,000 or more samples, using 4 tests on each positive sample: Elisa P24, Elisa P55, Western Blot 1 and Western Blot 2 – the same as for diagnosis of individual patients.
Then we can all honestly talk about how many people in Zambia are “living with HIV”. The PMTCT data is not worth the paper it is written on. The DRC did a DHS in 2007, and found only 1.3% of DRC people could be described as ‘living with HIV’. They didn’t do the WB tests.