Africa-Press – Namibia. More than 1 500 people gathered at the Mokati Sports Stadium in Otjiwarongo on Monday to commemorate the 2025 World Aids Day.
Street processions, speeches, testimonies, and cultural performances marked the event.The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Esperance Luvindao, officiated the event and said that Namibia remains committed to eradicating HIV and Aids by the year 2030. The minister said the new HIV and Aids injection is a game changer, even though procuring it at the moment is still a challenge. Luvindao used the World Aids Day commemoration to launch the seventh edition of the antiretroviral treatment guidelines for 2025, aimed at introducing modern integrated responses to HIV and Aids.
“These modern guidelines include new options for unsuppressed viral loads, management of advanced diseases, and crucial integration of non-communicable diseases,” she said. The minister also launched the fourth edition of the National Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) guidelines, as a new step towards the triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B. “These guidelines are aimed at ensuring every child in Namibia is born healthy, with the mother supported with dignity,” she added. Otjozondjupa governor, John //Khamuseb, urged Namibians to continue getting tested for HIV and Aids so that the fight does not falter in any part of the country.
//Khamuseb was supported by the Kambazembi Royal Traditional Authority leader, Chief Sam Kambazembi, who called on men to get involved and undergo testing to know their HIV status, saying HIV and Aids are medical conditions, not a curse or a death sentence.
He said HIV and Aids are manageable diseases, to the extent that they can eventually become undetectable in the body. “As traditional leaders, we condemn any form of discrimination and stigmatisation against those infected and affected by HIV and Aids in this country,” he said. Several other speakers also called for continuous HIV and Aids testing as a new starting point, as well as for intensified efforts to support those on treatment.
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