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Regina Ombam, Deputy Director, HIV Investment at the National AIDS Control Council (NACC)
How long have you been working at the National AIDS Council?
I am a Kenyan born in Nairobi, economist by profession, a mother and a chef.
What was your contribution to the council?
I was the lead for increased national and sustainable HIV funding through innovative leverage mechanisms based on the creation of an HIV fund. The fund will increase resources, access to universal health care for people living with HIV, and eventually subsidize Kenya's future economic responsibility for HIV prevention and treatment.
Kenya has the fourth highest number of HIV infections. Does it bother you?
Yes, that's the case, and especially infections in children. I firmly believe that with the science, knowledge and technology we have at this time, no child in Kenya should be born with HIV. I feel for children and I always look forward to having a generation without AIDS.
I therefore strongly believe that we can not end AIDS without putting people living with HIV at the forefront. We need a people-centered approach if we really want to change this trend.
You attended the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS. What were the main outcomes of the meeting and how are they related to your work in Kenya?
This meeting clearly opened the eyes, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Kenya in particular. We talked about universal access and how, almost 30 years after the discovery of HIV and AIDS, countries are still not able to reach universal access. This meeting brought together our minds to examine the main barriers in the areas of prevention and treatment from the point of view of leadership, from the point of view of innovation and from the point of view of human rights. ;man. This is essential for Kenya because the rate of infections does not decrease. Kenya needs to think of innovative ways to respond in terms of prevention and treatment.
Monitoring and evaluation of the country's strategic framework by key partners in the national resource, planning and budgeting of HIV interventions for prevention, treatment, care and support strategies and monitoring spending.
What is your typical day?
Extremely compact. Wake up at 4am, prepare the family for school and work. Go to the office at 7:30 am Watch the daily and respond to e-mails and meetings. Start work from 8h to 17h. Leave the office at 20h. Dine at 9:30 pm Review my schoolwork, get to bed at 1 pm
What challenges do you face in your workplace? How to overcome them?
Given the nature of the evolution of the epidemic every day, hour, second and not yet healing, the word "new" is the key word. The response to HIV is full of new developments. Go to any HIV conference and visit the showroom to get a glimpse of the kind of "new" things that are introduced.
Kenyans want better results and therefore new developments in the emerging HIV response from time to time. It is therefore important that the thought is put to the measure of the cost / benefit of new approaches for a true scientific screen and based on value.
I constantly read, share information and understand the nature of the outbreak, and how best to respond in real time.
Where would you like to go for the holidays and why?
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