World Health Organization (WHO) Urges African First Ladies To Support AIDS Fight

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) urged African first ladies Monday to provide the 'political will' to end the AIDS epidemic among children

KIGALI, Rwanda, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Dec, 2019 ) :The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) urged African first ladies Monday to provide the 'political will' to end the AIDS epidemic among children.

Speaking at a global AIDS conference in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said HIV, Hepatitis B and syphilis are endemic in Africa.

He said all three diseases can be maternally transmitted, are devastating and take a heavy toll on health systems with catastrophic expenditures for families leading to poverty in communities, yet all three can be prevented.

"Eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis is achievable and you [first ladies] can help provide the key ingredient: political will," Ghebreyesus told the audience, which included first ladies from Rwanda, Congo Brazzaville, Chad, Niger, Ghana and Botswana.

Eastern and southern Africa are leading the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, with an average of 92% pregnant women receiving anti-retroviral therapy, according to the WHO.

Rwanda's first lady Jeannette Kagame called for open conversations about gender-based violence, which she said is holding back efforts aimed at ending AIDS.

Winnie Byanyima, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said more domestic resources need to be invested in public healthcare and the HIV response.

The majority of children living with HIV are infected via mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.

The world is lagging behind in its commitment to end the AIDS epidemic among children and adolescents, according to a report by UNAIDS released in July.

Global gains made in AIDS fight under threat The conference has drawn nearly 8,000 participants, including leaders, activists, scientists and researchers from across the world to discuss the role of political leadership, collaboration and innovation in advancing efforts to end AIDS by 2030.

In 2018, 770,000 people died from HIV and 1.7 million people were newly infected, with the vast majority of these cases and deaths occurring in Africa, according to the WHO.

More than 37 million people were living with HIV worldwide in 2018, with Africa accounting for around one in every 25 adults infected with the virus, according to the WHO.