In commemoration of the 2023 World Aids Day and as the World work towards ending the HIV/AIDS epidemics by 2030, Media Action for Health, Environment and Sustainable Development (MAHESD) is calling on stakeholders to engage effective Community engagement and access toward ending the HIV/AIDS come 2030.

It may interest you to know that this year’s commemoration marks the 35th World AIDs Day Celebration and it is an opportunity to reflect on our journey, acknowledge and celebrate the progress we have made and recognise the challenges which community voices series suffered.

With the theme: “LET COMMUNITIES LEAD”, this year’s commemoration tends to focus on the need for the proper engagement of communities, because communities serve as a bridge between individual needs and broader societal structures. They are the experts on their own needs and know best how to respond to HIV in their own specific context.

According to Sarah Oughton and Tinashe Madamombe, “this contextual knowledge is essential for ensuring that HIV prevention and care efforts are successful. By amplifying community voices and empowering communities to take charge, we can create a world where everyone has access to the care and support they need to thrive”.

“Ending AIDS will only be possible when access to HIV services for marginalised communities improves. Our Community Voices series was co-created with LGBT people, sex workers, people with disabilities and others most affected by HIV. Co-creation embeds these, often over-looked community voices in our content to ensure they are heard more widely”, it stated.

Therefore, MAHESD, in collaboration with the Plateau State Ministry of Health, joins the rest of the world in advocating for the effective engagement of communities in the fight against HIV/AIDs by training more Community Mobilizers in Local Government Areas to effectively drive demands in our society.

We however, wants to use this opportunity to commend Plateau State for attaining HIV treatment saturation with over 49,539 people currently on treatment and over 95% of clients virally suppressed, but urged them to work on the gap amongst the Paediatric Sub population and the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT).

We also want to appreciate the National AIDS, STIs Control Programme of the Federal Ministry on Health (NASCP) and Global Fund (GF) for scaling up Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in all the States of the Federation, sitting over 861 in Plateau State.

E-signed

Joel K. Gomiyar
Project Officer

1/12/2023

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2023 World Aids Day: MAHESD Calls for Community Engagement and Access