Statements and Webcast
Zambia
H. E. Mr. Lazarous Kapambwe, Permanent Representative
10 June 2011
- Statement: English (Check against delivery)
Statement Summary
LAZAROUS KAPAMBWE (Zambia), aligning with statements made on behalf of the African Group and Southern African Development Community (SADC), said his country was among those most affected by the epidemic, which had negative and economic impacts on all Zambians. Yet the country had managed to turn the tide, scoring many successes in achieving the related Millennium Development Goals. Among other things, the gains had been guided by successive national AIDS strategic frameworks. Zambia had also recorded significant achievements in service delivery, including the provision of antiretroviral therapy and access for pregnant women to services aimed at preventing vertical transmission. Comprehensive legislation on gender-based violence also had been enacted and a national action plan for women and girls in connection with HIV and AIDS had been implemented. Mechanisms also had been designed to take stock of progress made to address women’s empowerment.
He said there were observable signs that more young people were delaying their first sexual activity and increasingly using condoms when they finally engaged. Deliberate efforts were directed at persons affected by HIV and AIDS who were in prison settings. A greater number of people living with the disease, including young people and women, were now involved in fighting it. Recognizing the value of a concerted, multisectoral, decentralized and a rights-based approach to the epidemic, Zambia had adopted a civil-society framework that was meant to build, direct and realign the capacities of all organizations involved in the fight. Zambia had committed to being free from the threat of HIV and AIDS by 2030. With a high prevalence of 14.3 per cent, however, it had recognized that it could not “treat its way out” of the epidemic. Thus, a first-ever Prevention Convention had been held in 2009, and prevention interventions had been reprioritized, he said, adding that those efforts would be dependent on full, sustainable and predictable resourcing at the national and international levels.
Source: GA/11093