Re commitments to Stemming the Tide of The Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic.

At the recently concluded AWA meeting (AIDS Watch Africa),
the need to strengthen our health systems so as to be able to combat diseases such as AIDS was emphasized.

Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director said that :
“Our biggest issue is inequity. Unless everyone has equal access to health services it will be difficult to transform our health system. Africa can do it and can continue to show the rest of the world that it is able to transform the future of global health.”

African heads of state made a recommitment to join in the efforts to end HIV/AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by year 2030.

It was decided that this feat can be achieved if antiretroviral drugs were made available to all individuals undergoing treatment without interruptions and making treatment centres more easily accessible.
Antiretroviral medications are also to be produced locally, so as to improve access to the medications and reduce the cost.

Lordina Mahama the First Lady of Ghana is the newly elected President of the Ordinary Assembly of the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV and AIDS (OAFLA) .
On Monday the 15th of June while speaking at the 15th assembly of the said organization in Johannesburg South Africa she made an appeal for “an accelerated, co-ordinated and scaled-up response in the fight against the HIV and AIDS pandemic" within the African continent.

She furthermore emphasized the need for public-private partnerships and collaborations so as to ensure the successful implementation of the program. She called on the civil society, faith-based organisations, law and policy makers, Persons Living with HIV and key affected populations to strategically form partnerships that will further the cause.

Drawing on the fact that 74% of HIV infections in the Sub Saharan continent occurred in adolescents, she called for other first ladies to continue to work tirelessly on female empowerment and sexual and reproductive health.

Every female should be made aware of her sexual and reproductive rights. She should also be empowered economically.

Mrs Mahama will be sworn in July.

The theme of the conference was “Enhancing partnerships to end AIDS by 2030 and to empower women in their sexual reproductive health and rights”.

Female education and empowerment hold the key to the stemming of the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa, as young women and adolescents have been most impacted by the disease.

When a girl is educated, she understands the risks involved with unprotected sexual intercourse,when she is empowered, she is able to take steps to prevent it.

Female education, provision of gainful employment for girls and women and providing education on sexual and reproductive rights of the female child will help stem the tide of HIV/AIDS globally.

- Say No to unprotected sexual intercourse.
- Know your status today!
- Early detection and treatment enhance a better prognosis.