African First Ladies to work with HIV positive youth in HIV/AIDS fight

The Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) hopes to strengthen collaboration with youth living with HIV/AIDS as part of ways to end the pandemic by 2030, the Kenyan First Lady said Monday.

Mrs Margaret Kenyatta, who chaired the 17th Ordinary General Assembly of the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA), on Monday in Kigali, said such transformative AIDS responses will contribute towards concrete actions.

"HIV/AIDS continue to be a huge concern," she said. "I urge us all to continue championing efforts to help us achieve the mission (of ending HIV/AIDS). We need more concrete actions and advocacy to educating our youth, treatment and care among other interventions."

AIDS is still the number two cause of death for those aged 10-19 globally, and number one in Africa, according to the head of the UN children's agency.

UNICEF chief Anthony Lake said Monday at the opening of a major international conference on the virus in Durban, South Africa, that despite remarkable global progress in tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic, much work remains to be done to protect children and adolescents from infection, sickness and death.

The OAFLA Monday reaffirmed its commitment to improving adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights and end HIV/AIDS across the continent by 2030.

The meeting on the sidelines of the 27th African Union Summit, in Kigali, was held under the theme, "Advancing Sustainable Partnerships to end Pediatric AIDS and improve Adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights."

Rwanda's First Lady Jeannette Kagame pointed out that the time was ripe for leaders to pause for a moment, and ask themselves what they must do to strengthen health systems across the continent, as well as find the most effective linkages to help them achieve the target.

She said over the years, the Rwandan government implemented several programs to fight this epidemic worsened by the 1994 genocide.

"Carefully selected interventions, relied on the involvement of all actors in our communities, including peer educators and community health workers, trained to provide primary care, and counsel on prevention and treatment methods. The aim was for our population to be able to access the services they needed, even if they did not seek consultations at health facilities," she said.

African First ladies last May launched the 'All-in' adolescent campaign to address HIV/AIDS prevalence among the youth.

The African Union commissioner for Social Affairs, Dr Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, observed that ending HIV/AIDS is a prerequisite to achieving all the seven principles of African Union Agenda 2063.

Joyce Amondi from Kenya talked on behalf of youth living with HIV, pointing out that stigma remains a challenge despite strong interventions to end HIV/AIDS.

According to the UN, some 68 percent of 52,000 young people surveyed in 16 countries said they did not want to be tested, fearing an HIV-positive result, and associated social stigma.

AIDS-related deaths among people aged between 15 and 19 have more than doubled since 2000, with 29 new infections within this age group taking place across the world every hour, according to UNICEF. Endit