Sekete Lesaoana
MASERU, Lesotho – Nearly 500 Lesotho children are dying of Aids annually, the United Nations’ Resident Coordinator, Amanda Khozi Mukwashi, has said.
This could change if Lesotho continued to work hard towards the elimination of new infections.
Mukwashi said this while addressing guests during the 2023 World Aids Day commemorations in Matsieng, South of Maseru.
She said there was need to ultimately end new Aids in children “as a matter of urgency”.
While over three quarters of adults living with HIV were on anti-retroviral therapy, just over 55% of children living with HIV were on this lifesaving medicine. It was unacceptable, that given the wide availability, affordability and effectiveness of treatment for children, “globally we still have nearly 85 000 children dying due to Aids each year, and in Lesotho close to 500 children”.
Among others, the event attracted dignitaries and development partners, diplomatic corps and international organisations.
And addressing the guests, Mukwashi said the UNAIDS Global AIDS Update released in July 2023 showed that there was a clear path to end AIDS, and a few countries were following it and succeeding. However, other countries were lagging significantly behind.
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She said, “This report shows that the Aids response is being held back by inequalities in access to treatment between countries; between men and women; between adults, young people, and children and in key populations. Globally, while 82% women and girls aged 15 years and older had access to treatment, only 72% men in the same age group had access. We need to challenge gender norms that prevent men from timely seeking health services, also expanding services that are friendly and accessible to them. For children, the situation is even more disheartening.”
She also added that Lesotho had also made significant progress in HIV prevention, with UNAIDS noting a 74% decline in HIV infections since 2010.