Although the government has made good progress in managing the spread of HIV/AIDS, new infections or defaults on treatment are still a concern.

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, says Namibia can only eliminate HIV/AIDS by reaching the global targets of 95% HIV testing, treatment, and viral suppression.

This means that of those who test positive, 95% must be initiated on treatment, and 95% of those initiated on treatment must be virally suppressed to an undetectable level.

"Medical science now tells us that people can become virally suppressed to the point where the virus in their bodies can no longer be detected. In other words, the virus in the body is at such low levels that the tests conducted cannot pick up the presence of the virus."

People who are virally suppressed do not show any symptoms, nor do they feel ill; however, protection is still required.

"Where does Namibia stand on the 95-95-95 cascade? As I said, good progress has been made, and Namibia now stands at 92–98–93. In light of these statistics and because there are sections of the population that need more focused attention in the last mile to defeat HIV, the ministry introduced differentiated service delivery (DSD) models."

The aim is to continue delivering effective and equitable service, especially to people living in remote areas.

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Tonateni Haimbodi