BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Government, through the Ministry of Health, has renewed its commitment to eliminate HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB).
The renewed commitment was made today (Thursday, December 5, 2024) at Mountain View International Hotel in Mbabane. This was during the launch of the TB and HIV, Viral Hepatitis (VH) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) National Strategic Plans Agenda for 2024 to 2028.
Delivering her speech when launching the strategic plans, Director of Health Services Dr Velephi Okello said these plans were going to shape the future of the country’s public health sector. She described these plans as representing a bold and united commitment to safeguarding the people’s health. Dr Okello said the plans also addressed the challenges facing the public health sector.
According to the director, the plans were also about building resilience and health equity for the future of Emaswati. Dr Okello also mentioned that the plans also provided directions for the health sector to eliminate HIV/AIDS, VH, and STIs as a public health threat by 2028, ahead of 2030. She said the plans built on the achievements of the National Health Sector Strategic Plan 2018 to 2023, leveraging the lessons learnt, while addressing the dynamic epidemiological realities, population growth, and the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases.
These strategies, according to the director, aligned with the National Health Policy of 2016, which was due for review in 2026. She also said the plans were meant to accelerate the Ministry of Health’s vision of accelerating the achievement of Universal Health Coverage, through integrated primary health care. At its core, the plans aimed to provide quality, person-centred health care services.
According to Dr Okello, the strategic plans established a results-based approach, ensuring alignment between goals, alignments, and mission. She described the implementation plans of the strategic plans as meticulous, with clear inputs, outputs, and interventions, ensuring that they would stay the course even during the internal and external challenges.
Dr Okello also described the National TB Strategic Plan as one that complimented the HIV/AIDS response by tackling one of the causes of mobility and mortality in the country. She said the disease remained a significant public health concern, with an estimated incidence rate of 325 cases per 100 000 people. She said the TB strategy was rooted in the WHO strategy, which emphasised innovation, best practices, and the use of evidence-based interventions.
For this strategy, Dr Okello said the approach was patient-centred and focused on access to diagnosis. She promised that all stakeholders, including those from the private sector, would be roped in for a comprehensive approach to the response to eliminating TB. She said the goal was to move towards a TB-free Eswatini by 2035, stating that such a feat was possible.
World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Director Dr Susan Tembo thanked the public health sector workers and all the stakeholders for working on eliminating these diseases. Dr Tembo said the commitment of Eswatini Government on these commitments showed that the country worked cooperatively with the world in trying to eliminate these diseases.
She pleaded for the focus of the limited resources on the implementation of the strategic plans to ensure the elimination of these diseases. She said implementation was key and with regular follow-ups, addressing of challenges and assessing progress, the goals would be achieved.