Accra, Nov. 16, GNA – More than 150 representatives of National AIDS Commissions and related agencies as well as Persons Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) from across Africa are expected in Accra this month for an International African HIV/AIDS Conference. The theme for the Conference is “Strengthening Interventions Towards the Elimination of HIV/AIDS in Africa”, a statement released in Accra said on Friday.
According to the organizers, the Accra-based Woyome Foundation for Africa (WOFA), “by the end of the three days, participants would have identified the best strategies for the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa, and make proposals for policy change and policy harmonization across the continent.”
Project Coordinator of WOFA Vitus Nanbigne, said the conference would discuss and formulate more sustained strategies to fight the pandemic.
It is also “in furtherance of the Foundation’s commitment to a more direct approach to achieve universal accessibility to treatment, therapy and care for those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Africa is the greatest victim of the pandemic with statistics showing that sub-Saharan Africa accounts for over 70 percent of prevalence globally.
The statement said the effects of this, especially in discrimination and stigma of the infected and affected, had led to social and economic consequences.
It said various countries on the continent had different policies and strategies in addressing the menace even though the causes and effects of the pandemic were the same in almost all countries. “While the policies seem to have worked in some countries, the results have swung to and fro in other countries, leaving a cause for concern.
“There is the need to identify, learn best practices and work towards harmonizing these national policies into an African Approach and Common Policy to fight the pandemic,” the statement said.
Source: GhanaWeb
