Prof. John Idoko, NACA Director-General was among speakers who made presentations at the 1st plenary session of the ongoing 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) in Addis Ababa. In his paper titled ‘Accountability through Ownership, Shared Responsibilities and Financial Sustainability’ he said over the next twenty years the global cost of AIDS will be between 19 and 35 billion U.S. dollars. He opined that middle-income countries such as Brazil, India, Thailand and China should be first to move towards self sustaining models while Mozambique and Zambia, who he said are in the category of low-income countries, are in need of international funding and should be placed as higher priorities. The NACA DG advocates for targeted tax breaks, voluntary solidarity contributions and health insurance as examples of how African countries can close the gap and provide more ART coverage.

Dr Meskere Grumitzk Bekele who is the Director of UNAIDS Regional Support team for West and Central Africa in his presentation stated that “A total of 97% of HIV treatment is produced in India. We want to explore how Africa can produce their own treatment,” and “We need to transfer capacity and competence to Africans.” Dr Bekele acknowledges the commitment of donor agencies and said that African leaders have not stepped up with the promised 15 percent of each African country’s GDP at the Abuja meeting in 2010 and that only few nations including Burkina Faso, Niger, Botswana, Zambia and Malawi have been able to meet up with the target.

“Finance from the International Community has peaked” says Dr. Peter Piot, HIV/AIDS Expert from the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr Piot told the delegates at the plenary session that in 2010, donor funding dropped to 10% due to fewer donations from European partners and that over the last ten years, the use of ART has led to massive decline in the mortality among people infected with HIV, saving at least 2.5 million lives.

A highlight of the event was the presentation of award to the Senegalese researcher and academic, Mafissatou Leye, for her abstract on virological future and resistance to antiretroviral drugs after 12 to 24 months. The first lady of Namibia, Lady Penehupifo Pohamba presented the award to the recipient.