US official commends efforts to turn the HIV epidemic from crisis to control
The U.S. Department of State’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Matthew Harrington, recently applauded Namibia’s success in bringing the HIV epidemic from crisis to control.
Harrington said this when he delivered an address at the Ministers’ of Health Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Meeting on a Sustainable HIV Response for Epidemic Control, last week.
According to Harrington the success is attributed to the partnership between the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Ministry of Health and Social Services.
Harrington also explained that PEPFAR has invested more than US$75 billion in sub-Saharan Africa, which has helped save more than 17 million lives and prevented millions of HIV infections.
During his visit at the Katutura Health Centre, Harrington saw an example of Namibia’s success in combatting HIV/AIDS in person, where Namibia is expanding its global leadership in fighting HIV by implementing index partner testing and recency testing.
This approach will allow Namibia to prevent the spread of HIV by strategically focusing on recent HIV infections and people who are most at-risk of new infection.
Harrington also had engagements with various officials covering the broad U.S.-Namibia partnership.
During his visit he had an opportunity to visit the Walvis Bay port expansion project to better understand Namibia’s positioning to be a logistics hub and transport corridor.
He explained how the U.S. model of partnership offers sustainable, debt-free avenues for African growth, prosperity, and human capital development.
He emphasized that U.S. companies are attracted to countries known for their ease of doing business and their consistent policy and regulatory environments. He expressed enthusiasm about the opportunities for further growth in trade and investment between the United States and Namibia, especially through the Prosper Africa initiative launched at last week’s U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Maputo, Mozambique.
In other engagements, Harrington met with representatives of American businesses present in Namibia and had lunch with alumni of U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs such as the Mandela Washington Fellowship, the Fulbright Scholarship, and the International Visitor Leadership Program.
He was able to visit Swakopmund’s COSDEF Arts and Crafts Centre constructed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and also met with Peace Corps Volunteers who are dedicating two years of their lives to community development all around Namibia.
Caption: From the left is Namibia’s Deputy Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Samuel Chief Ankama, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Matthew Harrington, Prime Minister of Namibia, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, and U.S. Ambassador to Namibia, Lisa Johnson.
