At a meeting held in N’Djamena, Chad, on 28 and 29 June, the Consultative Experts Meeting of AIDS Watch Africa (AWA) has welcomed the recently adopted Political Declaration on Ending AIDS and recommended that it be included in national strategic plans for the AIDS response.
The meeting, convened by the African Union Commission, acknowledged the significant progress made in the AIDS response by many African countries, while noting that progress has been more modest in western and central Africa and that AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections are actually increasing in North Africa. The meeting called for accelerated action to meet the challenges in ending the AIDS epidemic.
The recommendations of the Consultative Experts Meeting will be taken forward to the AWA Heads of State Meeting, which will take place later this month during the African Union summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
There were also recommendations on financing, access to medicines and the AWA strategic plan, as well as a review of progress made in establishing the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which has asked UNAIDS to provide support in monitoring the AIDS epidemic.
“There is no place for complacency in the response to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. I wish to assure you that Chad will play its role as the Chair of the African Union and the Chair of AIDS Watch Africa.”
Assane Ngueadoum Minister of Health, Chad
“Let us heed what the new data are telling us; we have to work hard and revamp the response in North Africa, and western and central Africa, which are lagging behind.”
Olawale Maiyegun Director, Department of Social Affairs, African Union Commission
“The recently adopted Political Declaration on Ending AIDS is historic, ambitious and forward-looking. It derives much from, and is aligned to, Africa guidance documents, such as the Catalytic Framework and the Common African Position to the High-Level Meeting—it’s a tool in our hands to help nations on the journey to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.”
Rosemary Museminali UNAIDS Representative to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
