World AIDS Day 2023: Building community support for the fight against HIV
- Posted on 29/11/2023 18:29
- Film
- By abelozih@sante-education.tg
Extract from the article: Every 01 December, the world celebrates World AIDS Day (WAD). This year, 2023, the theme of the celebrations is: « Entrusting leadership to communities ». Togo is commemorating the day under the banner of this global theme, which sends out a strong m
Every 01 December, the world celebrates World AIDS Day (WAD). This year, 2023, the theme of the celebrations is: « Entrusting leadership to communities ». Togo is commemorating the day under the banner of this global theme, which sends out a strong message with a view to combining efforts to put an end to AIDS by 2030. The aim is to rally support and unleash the full potential of community leadership in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Togo. The activities on the 2023 agenda were unveiled on Tuesday 28 November 2023 by Professor Vincent Pitché, National Coordinator of the Permanent Secretariat of the National Council for the Fight against AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (SP/CNLS-IST). The announcement was made at a press conference held in Lomé. The meeting was attended by Dr Eric Verschueren, Country Director of UNAIDS, Pr Anoumou Dagnra, National Coordinator of the PNLS-IST, and the President of the national platform of CSOs/HIV, Simplice Anato.
The
theme of the 2023 World AIDS Day, "Entrusting leadership to
communities", is a call for community ownership of the fight against HIV
in order to put in place sustainable and effective systems. Change does not
depend on a moment in time, but on a combined movement that must be sustained
over time.This theme focuses not only on community organisations of people
living with HIV, at risk or affected by the virus, who are on the front line,
but also on civil society and decision-makers at all levels of society.
« This
theme consists of highlighting communities, in particular civil society in all
its diversity, whether it be communities at village level, religious
communities or civil society at organisational level.Over the years, civil
society has played a very important role, which is why it was important at
international level to highlight and reaffirm their central role in the fight
against HIV, so that by 2030 we can put an end to AIDS »,
explained Prof Vincent Pitché, National Coordinator of SP/CNLS-IST.
The
main activities planned as part of the celebrations include the launch by
community players at the decentralised level in Tchamba of a national screening
week, awareness-raising campaigns in the field in all the health regions to
promote good practices, particularly prevention, and the distribution of
condoms to prevent young people from becoming infected.There will also be media
and social networking campaigns aimed at young people. These activities,
concentrated at community level in Tchamba (in the central region), will have
ramifications throughout the country.
Role
of communities
The
leadership roles of communities must be at the heart of all HIV plans and
programmes, as well as their drafting, budgeting, implementation, monitoring
and analysis.
Communities
play an essential role in connecting people with HIV services and in linking
key populations most affected by HIV with health services, HIV services and
support services. Innovation and
community determination improve access and quality of services.There is an
urgent need to fully support the work of communities and eliminate the
obstacles that stand in their way. « Underfunding of community
initiatives means that many are struggling to continue or are prevented from
expanding. There has been an unprecedented decline in financial commitments to
community organisations, and this is costing lives. Civil society and human
rights repression of people from marginalised communities is hampering progress
in HIV prevention and treatment services, jeopardising the fight against AIDS.
Laws and policies that are prejudicial to people from these populations at risk
of contracting HIV threaten the lives of community-based activities that try to
provide HIV services to them », emphasised Dr Eric Verschueren.
The
decision to entrust part of the management of the health sector to the
community sector will certainly make it possible in the years to come to fill
the gaps by increasing domestic funding for the AIDS response, raising
awareness of the impact of HIV on people's lives, eradicating stigma and
discrimination, and improving the quality of life of people living with HIV.
Togo
has already adopted this approach in its 2023-2026 national strategic plan to
combat AIDS.Impact 3 of this document calls for the creation of a « social,
political and legal environment" » that is « conducive to access
to and continued use of HIV services for key populations and PLHIV ». This
provision is in line with the national priorities set out in the National
Development Plan (NDP), Axis 3 of which aims to « consolidate social
development and strengthen mechanisms for inclusion ».
In
Togo, the activities carried out during the second year of implementation of
the NSP 2021-2025 have resulted in an HIV prevalence rate of 1.7%, i.e. 110,000
people living with HIV and 355,802 people tested.
William
O.