Empowering adolescent girls key to HIV control — OAFLA president
The President of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) and Ghana’s First Lady, Mrs Lordina Dramani Mahama, has stated that a key requirement to achieving an AIDS-free generation and attaining epidemic control is empowering adolescent girls.
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She said active engagement of adolescents in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV policies, services and programmes would greatly reduce new HIV infections.
At a high-level side event convened by OAFLA at the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Ending HIV and AIDS by 2030 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York yesterday, Mrs Mahama said Africa’s adolescent girls and young women were seriously affected by the epidemic and were very vulnerable to HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths.
The event, convened with support from UNAIDS, GAVI and PEPFAR, was on the theme: “Breaking the Silos: Empowered Adolescent Girls at the Centre of the Response”.
Mrs Mahama said the theme was very appropriate and timely as it highlighted the urgency of mainstreaming the empowerment of adolescent girls across the spectrum of the HIV response.
SDGs
The First Lady said the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) had provided a clear framework for focusing on adolescent girls across sectors, especially in education, health, gender equality, reducing inequalities and partnership.
“Furthermore, our fast-track mode for the AIDS response over the next five years provides compelling justification to focus on adolescent girls by maintaining HIV firmly on the political agenda, and allowing our young people to guide the way for concrete action.”
The First Lady said while great progress had been made in achieving the objective of universal services for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, sadly new infections among adolescents were rather increasing.
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According to her, in high-burden countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls contributed a significant 30 per cent of all new HIV infections and that was much higher than their percentage of the general population.
She said their vulnerability was driven by lack of empowerment compounded by other structural, social and biological factors.
Mrs Mahama said OAFLA believed strongly that as it moved towards the attainment of the short term 90-90-90 HIV targets, and the SDGs by 2030, they all must ensure that no young girl or boy was left behind.
Holistic approach
The Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Michel Sidibe, called for a holistic approach to the AIDS menace.
He said it would be impossible to end AIDS if adolescents were not put at the centre of the approach.
The Executive Director of GAVI, the vaccine alliance, Mr Seth Berkley, said ending AIDS would take every leadership, organisation and everyone to do it right with the adolescent.
He, therefore, called for a platform to reach the girls before they reach adolescence and are exposed to sexual activity.
A 20-year-old student from Zimbabwe, Thandiwe Mudhumo, who spoke on behalf of adolescents living with HIV, called on leaders, organisations and families to focus more attention on the adolescent to save their lives and those of future generations.
There were optional speeches by the First Ladies from Namibia, Burkina Faso, Cote d’ Ivoire, Congo and Niger.