Chronicle Editor
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
HEALTH experts have expressed optimism that the International Aids and Sexually Transmitted Infections (Icasa) conference to be hosted by Zimbabwe is going to further strengthen the country’s HIV and Aids finance model in the wake of praises for a homegrown solution in the form of National Aids Trust Fund popularly known as the Aids Levy.
They urged the country to explore ways of collecting the levy from those in the informal sector so that no one is left behind in the fight against the infectious virus. Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said the country was going to share and learn from the rest of the participants on how best they could improve on domestic funding.
“We are proud to be hosting this meeting to share our best practices while learning from the rest of the continent on other initiatives that all together can increase Africa’s domestic financing of HIV and other epidemics without totally relying on external funds. We will have a meeting of African First Ladies which will be hosted by our First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa. This meeting will focus on addressing the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and we will also host the African Ministers of Finance who will attend a meeting focusing on addressing domestic financing of the HIV response to reach the UN 2025 goals and the African Union Agenda 2063. As you are aware, Zimbabwe has already been praised globally for its homegrown domestic funding initiative in the form of the National Aids Trust Fund, popularly known as the Aids Levy,” he said.
The Aids Levy was introduced in 1999 by the Government to fund HIV and Aids prevention, care, and treatment in response to a growing rate of HIV infection and Aids and limited Government funding to combat the problem then.
The levy which became effective in 2000, is collected from all formally employed people through a special tax act where three percent of their income is collected and channelled towards HIV and Aids interventions.
Zimbabwe was commended by UNAIDS for having created and grown their own solution to funding for HIV and Aids. UNAIDS described the initiative as the ultimate symbol of national ownership and a sustainable road towards achieving zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero Aids-related deaths.
Icasa Scientific Committee Chairperson Prof Zvavaera Chirenje said a total of 735 speakers and 235 sessions were expected at the conference. He said in terms of HIV research done so far, there were a number of abstracts that were lined up for discussion during the conference including how those who discovered the malaria vaccine can use similar technologies for developing an HIV vaccine.
Apart from HIV, co-morbidities like tuberculosis, hepatitis, malaria and Covid-19 will also be discussed also factoring in HIV and aging and the challenges that are coming up with it. Young scientists including those from Zimbabwe will also be awarded during the conference for the best abstracts submitted. Community Working Group on Health Director Mr Itai Rusike said the African Ministers of Finance must explore sustainable financing mechanisms.
“The meeting between Ministers of Finance should highlight the importance of domestic resource mobilisation for health and HIV research in Africa. Explore sustainable financing mechanisms, innovative funding models, and partnerships to scale up investments in biomedical prevention research, ensuring the availability of funds for research, development, and implementation of effective prevention strategies,” he said.
Mr Rusike also said the informal sector must also come on board to contribute towards the Aids Levy.
“We definitely need to explore more homegrown solutions as a country to grow the Aids Levy to fully capacitate the National Aids Council to enable it to carry its mandate effectively and efficiently. We should find ways of taking everyone on board including those in the informal sector that are not currently contributing to the Aids Levy because without this inclusive approach, we will not get to zero. Getting to zero in Africa will entail a co-ordinated effort to accelerate the implementation of proven effective interventions and a push to discover new modalities for prevention across the continent,” he said.
Icasa will be held from 4 to 9 December in Harare, while the two high-level engagements on PMTC and African Ministers of Finance engagement will take place in Victoria Falls on 2 December. — @NyembeziMu
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