Govt out to slash AIDS rate

THE Ministry of Health plans to reduce the prevalence rate of HIV-AIDS in Namibia from the present staggering 22 per cent to one per cent in the next five years.

On Thursday, Government unveiled its new national plan to overcome HIV-AIDS, which focuses primarily on reducing the incidence of infection to below epidemic proportions. It will cost more than N$3,6 billion to carry out the Third Medium Term Plan (MTP III) which will run from 2004 through to 2009.MTP III incorporates the country’s ideals in accordance with the National Development Plan II and Vision 2030, as well as the UN Millennium Declaration of 2000, through which Namibia pledged to halt the spread of the disease by 2015.Government is poised to receive about N$200 million over the next three years to fight the epidemic.Outlining the goals of the plan at a special function in Windhoek, Health Minister Libertina Amathila said although recent research indicated that the epidemic might be starting to stabilise, a lot still had to be done to stem the disease considering that it was the country’s leading cause of death.Last year HIV-AIDS contributed to more than 20 per cent of all deaths recorded at State health facilities.The Minister was however disappointed at the poor turnout of only four Ministers at the occasion, saying that the issue affected the work of all their ministries.”HIV-AIDS is everybody’s business.If those who make laws are not represented in full force then what are we talking about?” she said.The regions were represented by their Governors or a representative.The Health Minister appeared confident that the country was on target to have treated at least 5 000 patients with anti-retrovirals (ARVs) by the end of next year.This figure does not include the number of pregnant women who have received treatment.According to Amathila, at least 1 500 people are now receiving ARVs from six State facilities across the country.The rollout began last July and, by late September, just over 150 people were receiving the treatment.About 2 000 patients within the private health sector are known to be taking ARVs.A major focus of MTP II was reducing mother-to-child transmission of the disease and for the past two years many of those infected were receiving anti-retrovirals (ARVs).MTP I, which ran between 1992 and 1998, was the country’s first major national plan for HIV-AIDS and was preceded by a short-term plan instituted in 1990.MTP I centred largely on preventative activities as well as treating opportunistic infections resulting from HIV-AIDS.The Health Ministry estimates that in some parts of the country between 50 to 70 per cent of hospital admissions to State facilities were HIV-AIDS-related.Of the 166 746 patients admitted to State health facilities last year, six per cent were HIV-AIDS related.By the end of last year, about 140 000 HIV-AIDS cases had been recorded by the Ministry of Health and Social Services.The first case was reported in 1986.”The pandemic can no longer be perceived as health issue only, but it has to become a socio-economic problem with the potential to erode our national development achievements if it is not reversed timely,” said President Sam Nujoma, who officially launched the new strategic plan.The President advocated a more aggressive drive to encourage a change in sexual behaviour towards abstinence until marriage and safer sex in general.In Namibia, heterosexual intercourse and mother-to-child transmission remain the most common modes of HIV-AIDS transmission.Government says widespread alcohol and substance abuse, poverty, gender inequalities, sex between older men and young women, cultural practices and ignorance are major contributors to new infections.Through the MTP III, Government hopes to reduce the prevalence among the most affected category i.e.women between the ages of 25-29 from the current 28 per cent to 21 per cent by the time a mid-term review of MTP III takes place in 2007, and even further to 17 per cent by the time the plan expires in 2009.Monitoring the HIV prevalence among pregnant women will be used as a key indicator to judge progress.Orphanhood has become an indirect indicator for adult mortality with close to 14 per cent of children under the age of 15 having lost one or both parents.Caprivi has the highest HIV-AIDS prevalence rate in the country at 43 per cent of pregnant women testing positive for HIV-AIDS in 2002.It will cost more than N$3,6 billion to carry out the Third Medium Term Plan (MTP III) which will run from 2004 through to 2009.MTP III incorporates the country’s ideals in accordance with the National Development Plan II and Vision 2030, as well as the UN Millennium Declaration of 2000, through which Namibia pledged to halt the spread of the disease by 2015.Government is poised to receive about N$200 million over the next three years to fight the epidemic.Outlining the goals of the plan at a special function in Windhoek, Health Minister Libertina Amathila said although recent research indicated that the epidemic might be starting to stabilise, a lot still had to be done to stem the disease considering that it was the country’s leading cause of death.Last year HIV-AIDS contributed to more than 20 per cent of all deaths recorded at State health facilities.The Minister was however disappointed at the poor turnout of only four Ministers at the occasion, saying that the issue affected the work of all their ministries.”HIV-AIDS is everybody’s business.If those who make laws are not represented in full force then what are we talking about?” she said.The regions were represented by their Governors or a representative.The Health Minister appeared confident that the country was on target to have treated at least 5 000 patients with anti-retrovirals (ARVs) by the end of next year.This figure does not include the number of pregnant women who have received treatment.According to Amathila, at least 1 500 people are now receiving ARVs from six State facilities across the country.The rollout began last July and, by late September, just over 150 people were receiving the treatment.About 2 000 patients within the private health sector are known to be taking ARVs.A major focus of MTP II was reducing mother-to-child transmission of the disease and for the past two years many of those infected were receiving anti-retrovirals (ARVs).MTP I, which ran between 1992 and 1998, was the country’s first major national plan for HIV-AIDS and was preceded by a short-term plan instituted in 1990.MTP I centred largely on preventative activities as well as treating opportunistic infections resulting from HIV-AIDS.The Health Ministry estimates that in some parts of the country between 50 to 70 per cent of hospital admissions to State facilities were HIV-AIDS-related.Of the 166 746 patients admitted to State health facilities last year, six per cent were HIV-AIDS related.By the end of last year, about 140 000 HIV-AIDS cases had been recorded by the Ministry of Health and Social Services.The first case was reported in 1986.”The pandemic can no longer be perceived as health issue only, but it has to become a socio-economic problem with the potential to erode our national development achievements if it is not reversed timely,” said President Sam Nujoma, who officially launched the new strategic plan.The President advocated a more aggressive drive to encourage a change in sexual behaviour towards abstinence until marriage and safer sex in general.In Namibia, heterosexual intercourse and mother-to-child transmission remain the most common modes of HIV-AIDS transmission.Government says widespread alcohol and substance abuse, poverty, gender inequalities, sex between older men and young women, cultural practices and ignorance are major contributors to new infections.Through the MTP III, Government hopes to reduce the prevalence among the most affected category i.e.women between the ages of 25-29 from the current 28 per cent to 21 per cent by the time a mid-term review of MTP III takes place in 2007, and even further to 17 per cent by the time the plan expires in 2009.Monitoring the HIV prevalence among pregnant women will be used as a key indicator to judge progress.Orphanhood has become an indirect indicator for adult mortality with close to 14 per cent of children under the age of 15 having lost one or both parents.Caprivi has the highest HIV-AIDS prevalence rate in the country at 43 per cent of pregnant women testing positive for HIV-AIDS in 2002.