- Prince Simelane says event gave birth to an organization called the alliance of mayors’ initiative for community action on AIDS at the local level
Mbabane – They assured commitment on ending HIV/AIDS by 2030 and signed the Paris Declaration on Fast-Track Cities. These are Mbabane and Manzini Mayors Zephania Nkambule and Quinton Els respectively.
Speaking through Principal Secretary, Clifford Mamba, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development Prince Simelane said it was an honour to be part of the ceremony wherein they witnessed the signing of the Paris declaration to end the HIV epidemic in cities by 2030.
He said, “Country Director; we are not only excited about the value that this partnership brings to our HIV and AIDS programme in the two cities, but we are also thrilled about the opportunity to show the world, once again, how the Kingdom of Eswatini is indeed a winner in our quest to ensure that the HIV epidemic is ended by 2030. The signing of the commitment by the political leadership of the two cities is an indication that indeed, all efforts in the fight against HIV and AIDS will definitely be successful.”
The Prince continued, “as His Majesty’s Government, we do recognize that cities have become centres of demographic growth as a result of rural-urban migration. as a result, given the powers vested in them, municipalities have an important role to play in response to the many challenges posed by the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Municipalities cannot afford to take a backseat in the fight against HIV and AIDS, reasons being that HIV prevalence and incidence reports show that the urban space is worse off than its counter rural space.”
The Minister added that the economic challenges prevailing in the cities are responsible for increasing the negative impact of HIV and AIDS on vulnerable groups within communities; in particular women and the youth. He said the urban poor are disproportionately affected by the pandemic and the advent of Covid-19 has exacerbated the vulnerability of the poor families especially the families living in the informal settlements who have limited access to secure livelihoods, healthcare and information.
“With such programmes, we have no doubt that we shall continue pushing our boundaries towards ensuring that the much-needed interventions are provided to our urban population. The country has made remarkable progress in terms of realisation of the 95-95-95 targets. In fact, we succeeded in attaining the goal 10 years before the targeted timeline. The fast-track cities project is in line with the extended national strategic framework 2018-2022; which talks about the super-fast tracking of HIV and AIDS response to ensure complete eradication.”
He said the Ministry was proud of the great strides that have so far been achieved by government, in particular the Ministry of Health in as far as the fight against the epidemic is concerned.
He said, “We hope that the fast-track cities project will further facilitate a mechanism for increased collaboration and information sharing among the two cities so that it becomes much easier to confront common challenges that may arise during the rollout of the project. Furthermore, it is the Ministry’s hope and prayer that the project ultimately expands and covers all the municipalities in the country.”
“The collaboration with development partners within the two cities is also appreciated and this is evident in the many programmes being started in our cities to mitigate the spread of HIV and AIDS in the urban space. through this relationship, a number of public healthcare facilities have been established in both municipalities. the fast-track cities project reminds me of a declaration that was made by African mayors and municipal leaders in Abidjan back in 1997; wherein a resolution was made to have the region work together towards building resilient cities against HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.”
He expressed their appreciation to UNAIDS and its partners for the wise decision to channel such a massive investment to the two cities.
“Cities remain closest to the people and are, therefore, in a better position to understand the socio-economic challenges that prevail at the community level. we, therefore, have no doubt that this is a worthwhile investment. Fast track cities could not have come at a better time than now as the signing of the Paris Declaration marks the beginning of yet another exciting trajectory towards the 2030 global goal in relation to the fight against HIV and AIDS.”
Meanwhile, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) Regional Director-Southern and Eastern Africa Karen Chale said, “this initiative was launched precisely on World AIDS Day, back in 2014. Last year, on the initiative’s 7th anniversary, IAPAC announced progress across the Fast-Track Cities network.
Nine new cities in the Southern and Eastern Africa joined the Fast-Track Cities initiative, bringing the total to 174 cities in the region and more than 380 cities worldwide, whose mayors or provincial governors have signed the Paris Declaration on Fast-Track Cities. The initiative’s new members include the cities of Harare and Bulawayo (in Zimbabwe), Luanda (in Angola), Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, and Eldoret (in Kenya), and Matola and Xai-Xai (in Mozambique).
Regarding the cities’ progress on the attainment of the initiative goals – i.e., having 90% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) knowing their status; 90% of this group following antiretroviral therapy, and 90% of PLHIV on ART achieving viral suppression – meaning the virus is undetectable and therefore cannot be sexually transmitted. IAPAC is also proud to announce that the cities of Blantyre (in Malawi) and Nairobi City-County (in Kenya) had surpassed the 90-90-90 targets with 90-92-90, and 93-99-94, respectively.”
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