WINDHOEK – The Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services, Petrina Haingura, yesterday urged people to know their HIV status.
Haingura stressed that people should get tested for HIV so that those whose results are positive are linked up for treatment, while those who are negative will be referred to HIV prevention services.
“We need to know our HIV status so that nurses can link you to prevention or treatment services,” Haingura said at the launch of the National Strategy and Action Plan for HIV testing and counselling at Hakahana clinic in Katutura.
Haingura explained that new HIV infections could be reduced because when HIV-positive people are on treatment their viral load decreases.
This means if a HIV-negative person has sexual contact with a HIV-positive person their chances of contracting the virus are less and not as high as that of a person who is completely not on treatment.
Speaking at the same occasion and citing new scientific data, the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Michel Sidibé, said if HIV-positive people start early treatment new infections can be reduced by 96 percent.
“If people don’t know their (HIV) status we can’t put them on treatment,” Sidibé said.
He stressed that to fight the disease burden, the health of people should be looked at through an integrated approach. This means if a patient is visiting a health facility for a HIV test, other diseases such as cervical cancer should also be tested. “We should know the health status of our people,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, Haingura who delivered a speech on behalf of the Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi, said the National Strategy and Action Plan for HIV testing and counselling spells out the country’s new focus on evidence-informed HIV testing and counselling programmes.
“This strategy marks a move from the ‘emergency response’ programmes to a more sustainable and evidence-based one,” she said.
Haingura explained the plan was designed following HIV testing and counselling milestones that took place in the past year.
The objective of the four-year strategic plan is to reduce the HIV incidence in Namibia through early detection of the virus as well as effective linkage to prevention, treatment, care and support services.
In his foreword of the strategic plan, Kamwi says if every undiagnosed HIV-positive Namibian was counselled, tested and enrolled in care and treatment, the health of the whole nation would improve.
Also, “Namibia would see a rapid decline in new cases due to the prevention benefit of treatment,” Kamwi’s foreword reads.
The booklet was launched in the presence of Sidibé and the Global Fund Executive Director, Mark Dybull. They were on a two-day (November 3 and 4) official visit to meet key government officials who are responsible for the successful implementation of HIV/AIDS programmes in the country.