[ad_1]
Stubborn and persistent HIV and AIDS prevalence rates in our country despite the huge financial investments of our development partners are ample proof that you can only bring a horse to the river if you do not want to drink it [19659002] There are so many things we can do without outside help and beyond that we can only rely on our actions to fail or succeed.
It is encouraging to note that, despite all our problems, a poor country such as ours has not been abandoned and continues to benefit from the support of much richer and economically prosperous countries, such as the United States of America, in their struggle to raise the lives of citizens.
As we report elsewhere in this edition, the United States Over the past decade, the US President's Emergency Relief Program for the Fight Against AIDS (PEPFAR) has injected an staggering 4 billion euros to help Lesotho fight the deadly pandemic of HIV and AIDS
. has facilitated at least three million HIV tests in the last 10 years and has treated at least 200,000 people.
Of these, at least 78,000 have received treatment to ensure that they do not transmit the virus to their children. This is essential in the quest to create a generation without HIV
This information was presented by the US Ambbadador to Lesotho, Rebecca Gonzales, during the recent 242nd commemoration of American independence at Maseru.
It can not be denied that the United States has played a key role in saving so many lives.
But even if we badyze the numbers and highlight the successes, one thing that continues to hurt like a plague is the fact that for all the investments to tackle the scourge of HIV, Lesotho remains the second in the world to eSwatini in terms of HIV prevalence and AIDS.
According to current statistics, the incidence of HIV and AIDS is 25% of the population. all financial and other investments, there is still something wrong with our approach to ending the scourge.
Alarming statistics of 10,000 HIV and AIDS deaths and 25,000 new infections each year There is even more urgent action to reverse the course of the pandemic.
The money and the efforts of well-intentioned development partners like the United States can only do for us. As a country, we must look in the mirror and do the rest for ourselves.
If we honestly and seriously reconsider our strategies, we will be sure to conclude that even if billions and trillions of additional dollars are poured into our national coffers, the war on HIV and AIDS will not be won without a change in behavior. .
The main reasons for the HIV epidemic are rooted badual behaviors with frequent changes in badual partners and low condom use. of male circumcision. Sexual violence, the abuse of alcohol and drugs increase the risk of transmission. Social inequalities, especially gender disparities, badociated with stigma and discrimination are additional factors in the spread of the disease.
There is never a week without the rape of women and girls. If it is not rape, then it is the marriage of young girls in the name of tradition and culture.
Needless to say, all of these practices fuel the spread of the pandemic and it is fair to say that the relevant ministries and civil society organizations are not making enough noise and are developing the relevant policies to deal with such practices that only serve to fuel the spread of HIV and AIDS.
We can also continue to sink into the sand and act as if we do not have key populations among us that include bad, gay, bibadual, transgender and interbad (LGBTI) people.
As long as we ignore these key groups and fail to develop the relevant policies to ensure better access to baduality. We will be like soldiers firing in the dark in our war against the pandemic.
While we will need all the support we can get from our development partners, the inescapable fact is that we need to do a lot more for ourselves to win the war on HIV and AIDS.
[ad_2]
Source link
