Twelve countries, including Namibia, are gathered to discuss the latest knowledge and innovations that will enable countries to increase efficiencies to eliminate HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
During a Regional Technical Network meeting, stakeholders will analyse resource availability and resource utilisation in the ongoing response to HIV/AIDS and broader health resources.
The countries will work together to develop priority actions to guide future activities and sustainability planning to eradicate HIV.
The meeting will also examine the economic, equity, and health-related cases for continued support for investments in HIV response.
The purpose of the four-day meeting is to ensure the sustainable control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to continue building health systems that are resilient and capable of withstanding future challenges.
Stakeholders will further engage and mobilise resources to combat the spread of infections and provide the necessary medical countermeasures.
Additionally, delegates will explore the costing and financing data, including activity-based costing and resource alignment data, to better inform planning decisions.
The Executive Director of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Ben Nangombe, says the gathering demonstrates countries' collective commitment to tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other health threats.
He says the meeting would build and sustain resilient health systems to improve the health and well-being of people.
"When we talk about mobilising and optimising resources, we are talking about how we fund intervention interracial costing with the intention of bringing in efficiency in terms of ensuring that we have sufficient human resources and efficient medical countermeasures. We are saying we want to reach a stage by 2028 where we reach 97, 97, 97, meaning by 2028 we want to have a situation where 97% of the people who are HIV+ in Namibia know their status, 97% of those will be initiated on treatment, and 97% of the people initiated on treatment are virally suppressed. Again, that leads to the situation where we will not get as many new HIV infections, and that is what is going to take us to 2030, where AIDS becomes just another chronic condition and is not a public health threat," he says.
The meeting is graced by participants from Zambia, Namibia, India, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.