STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER

 

DR B.S.SDLAMINI

 

AT THE LAUNCH OF THE MULTISECTORAL HIV/AIDS NATIONAL EXTENDED STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

 

AT ROYAL SWAZI SUN CONVENTION CENTRE

 

THURSDAY 10 APRIL 2014

 

Honourable Ministers

Your Excellency the United States Ambassador

UNDP Representative

Donors and Diplomatic representatives

Regional Administrator

Members of both Houses of Parliament

Chairman and Members of the NERCHA Council

NERCHA Executive Director

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

It is 28 years since the Kingdom of Swaziland saw its first case of HIV. The attack on our Nation presented by the disease developed to a scale unprecedented in our history. Not the conventional and visible assault brought by war but a slow, almost silent, but equally devastating, destruction of individuals, their families and communities. Over a period of time HIV and AIDS wiped out much of the development that we had achieved since independence and reduced average life expectancy in our country to barely 40 years.

 

In such a humanitarian catastrophe it is hard to visualize that there can be a silver lining to the cloud. But there was – the commitment and cooperation among our people, the generosity of our development partners and the advent of anti-retroviral treatment has pushed the enemy back. Not yet conquered, but kept at bay. And that has made our Nation stronger.

 

But the damage has been huge. We have 20% of our population living with HIV and requiring what, at the present time, has to be considered to be a lifelong dependence on medication and monitoring. History and medical progress suggest that a cure will one day be found but that day may be decades from now. Nevertheless we can fully appreciate that we have turned a terminal disease into a chronic medical condition that has enabled many thousands in Swaziland – millions across the world – to pick up the pieces and recapture the joy of life.

But there also remains, undeniable and hugely intimidating, the prevailing damage that represents a massive and continuing challenge - almost half, 45%, of our population under 18 years are orphans and vulnerable children, caused by the HIV and AIDS pandemic. That represents an extensive humanitarian catastrophe and an ongoing challenge such that, if we do not commit totally to the feeding and protection of those children, the scourge of HIV and its consequences will strike again in the form of a dysfunctional society at some time in the future. Our determination and resourcefulness in assisting our children is crucial to the strong development of our society and economy in the years to come.

Before we renew our commitment to tackling the remaining challenges let us first reflect on the successes. We have rolled out antiretroviral treatment to more than 100,000 of our people, we have reduced the transmission of HIV from mother to child to a tiny proportion of the figure ten years ago. The HIV prevalence rate among young people between 15 and 24 years is on a downward trend. All of the children who have been orphaned by the pandemic have access to the classroom and the school feeding programme. Communities have been empowered to look after their vulnerable people. The domestic economy contributes 40% of total HIV-related expenditure and for the past five years Government has taken on the responsibility of purchasing antiretroviral medication.

But there remain challenges. The incidence of new infections is too high, demanding a new approach to achieving the truly resounding results which can only come from preventing infection in the first place. And there are still myths about how HIV is contracted, and myths about a cure for the disease – there is none at the present time - as well as a residual stigma and discrimination that cause many sufferers to be fearful of seeking help for their medical condition. This stigma is quite bewildering because in no way should a person infected with HIV be treated as less than completely equal to every other person in our society. They are predominantly victims, not criminals, and it is about time that every one of our people in our religiously committed Christian country accepted that and behaved accordingly.

In his Speech from the Throne earlier two months ago, His Majesty King Mswati III challenged the Nation and those working in the HIV and AIDS arena to work hard towards creating an AIDS-free generation. That is our goal and today we launch the next stage in our national strategy to tackle HIV and AIDS – the Extended National Strategic Framework (eNSF) for HIV and AIDS which can best be described as our five year multisectoral, decentralized, targeted and evidence-informed HIV and AIDS Plan for the five years to 2019.

The eNSF starts by taking stock of the existing shortcomings that are currently preventing us from achieving that AIDS-free generation. These include low and inconsistent condom use, gender-based violence, multiple concurrent sexual partners and a low level of male circumcision. The eNSF is designed to respond to the individual and combined effects of these.

The target is to achieve, through the eNSF, a reduction of 50% in the rate of new infections among adults and eliminate new infections among children. Deaths among those with HIV, and the adverse social and economic impacts on the particularly vulnerable groups are to be reduced. And there will be improved efficiency and effectiveness, where needed, in our national response planning, coordination and service delivery.

There is of course no magic wand in this new strategy. One simply does not exist. It is largely a matter of tackling more effectively all the areas that secure results, building on what we have hitherto achieved and targeting the known weaknesses. Earlier HIV testing and counseling, higher intensity of social and behavioural change interventions, and provision of additional condom access sites are some of the eNSF strategies. Also included are the further promotion of voluntary medical male circumcision and the prioritization of the test-and-treat option for HIV-positive mothers, HIV positive children under 14 years, people with TB/HIV co-infection, and those with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis.

With orphans and vulnerable children making up so large a proportion of our young population HIV has created a huge vulnerability among them. HIV in the family has worsened the quality of life of these children. The eNSF will strengthen social protection for orphans and vulnerable children and their families. In the front line of areas requiring a considerably sharper focus and unstinting support is a revived indlunkhulu scheme together with our Neighbourhood Care Points. We must all be totally committed to making those work!

The focus of this new extended strategy for our national response to HIV and AIDS can therefore be seen to focus intensively on improving social protection, the strengthening of the various education, health and community systems and food security and nutrition systems.

I take the opportunity, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, to pledge our full support to the eNSF. Government of course cannot go it alone. iHIV Yindzaba Yetfu Sonkhe! We urge all in our society to help us convert plans into effective action.

I also wish to remind our development partners of the very deep and lasting sense of gratitude that we hold in our hearts for the generous assistance that they have given to us. We are particularly indebted for the assistance given by the United Nations and the United States Government through the Global Fund and PEPFAR respectively. As the saying goes – a friend in need is a friend indeed – a centuries old saying meaning a friend, when you are in need, is someone who is prepared to show it through deed. And how wonderful is the news that the Global Fund has committed a further US$ 80 million (around E800 million) to fighting HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. Let us all work together to meet the requirements of the funding and ensure that the resources are spent to maximum effectiveness.

It is now my honour, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government to launch the eNSF – the Multisectoral National Extended Strategic Framework for HIV and AIDS.

 

Thank you.