via Over 5000 at Harare global AIDS summit – New Zimbabwe 29/11/2015
THE 18th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) kicked off in Harare on Sunday, with more than 5,000 delegates from about 150 countries expected to attend.
The biennial ICASA conference, which is a premier gathering of health personnel, policy makers, people living with HIV and others committed to ending the pandemic, ends on December 4.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa described ICASA as “a tremendous platform for researchers from all around the globe to share latest scientific advances in the field, learn from others experiences and develop strategies for facets of a collective effort to prevent and treat HIV.”
“Zimbabwe has a long history in the response to HIV and AIDS.
“As one of the countries severely affected by the pandemic, we have recorded some internationally acclaimed milestones particularly the reduction of both HIV incidence and prevalence and scaling up access to treatment under difficult conditions as well as our leadership role as a pathfinder in domestic financing for HIV through our AIDS levy, which has now been recorded and shared as an international best practice,” he said.
The conference programme would see a number of presentations on bio-medical advances, elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV as well as progress by countries towards meeting the United Nations target of ensuring that at least 90 percent of the population know their status.
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