5000 Attend International AIDS Conference in Harare

Sunday saw Harare play host to the 18th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA). The conference is on until the 4th of December, and it is expected that around 5000 delegates from more than 150 countries will attend the event.

Zimbabwean health minister, David Parirenyatwa, said that the ICASA formed a great platform for an international conversation on the AIDS topic and is great way for researchers across the globe to share ideas and findings.

He also added that Zimbabawe has long been a part of the ICASA programme and that the country was honoured to host the event:

“…[ICASA is] a tremendous platform for researchers from all around the globe to share latest scientific advances in the field, learn from others experiences and develop strategies for facets of a collective effort to prevent and treat HIV,” he said.

He continued saying that it is important for a country like Zimbabwe to host such an event:

“…[sic] As one of the countries severely affected by the pandemic, we have recorded some internationally acclaimed milestones particularly the reduction of both HIV incidence and prevalence and scaling up access to treatment under difficult conditions as well as our leadership role as a pathfinder in domestic financing for HIV through our AIDS levy, which has now been recorded and shared as an international best practice,”