BY ANDREW DLAMINI
MBABANE – Minister of Labor and Social Security Phila Buthelezi has shown his support for the World AIDS month commemoration.
The minister yesterday joined his staff members to host a candlelight memorial at the ministry’s office in Mbabane where he encouraged collaborative efforts to eliminate HIV and AIDS.
Buthelezi says HIV/AIDS has greatly impacted on the country’s labor force hence the need for collaborative HIV elimination initiatives.
“With 95-95-95 target achieved by the Kingdom there is still much more to be done by every employee and every liSwati to eliminate AIDS in Eswatini, whereas the focus for this year theme is communities taking the lead towards ending AIDS whereby the world can and AIDS with communities leading the way,” said Buthelezi.
According to World Health Organization Eswatini the Kingdom of Eswatini, has made significant strides in its response to HIV, aiming to eliminate AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Eswatini became the first African country to not only meet but exceed the global HIV treatment targets of 95-95-95 in 2020.
Currently, 94% of adults (aged 15 and above) living with HIV are aware of their status, with 97% of those individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Moreover, an impressive 96% of those on ART have successfully achieved viral suppression.
The consistent decline in new HIV infections is evident, dropping from 14,000 in 2010 to 4,800 in 2020, and the projection indicates a further decrease to 4,300 in 2023.
