More Youths flock to USAID supported Health Facilities

By Kalata News,

LUSAKA-MORE youths are seeking HIV Health services in USAID-supported private hospitals and clinics on the Copperbelt. These adolescents and youths are said to be finding these private health facilities  as safe spaces, youth friendly and appealing to them to seek HIV services including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

According to a USAID post from the recently held 3rd International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA) held at Mulungushi Conference Centre in Lusaka, Zambia, the USAID-supported Zambia Accessible Markets for Health Products Project has been training healthcare workers from six private hospitals and clinics in the Copperbelt Province to deliver HIV prevention services, including PrEP to young persons.

These healthcare workers have been engaging adolescents and young people support group members to seek health services from these facilities and have been encouraging them to refer their peers to the six facilities to receive counseling on HIV prevention methods.

In a presentation to the Health Conference, the Project’s Social and Behavior Change (SBC) Director Justina Phiri-Mthoniswa reported that the number of young people who have accessed PrEP in the six private hospitals and clinics on the Copperbelt increased 168 times from 11 to 1,856 within a year.

“The increase of 1,856 was broken down into  53 percent females and 47 percent males in just over a year. That is 1,845 more people who have had access to a lifesaving sexual health service,” explained Phiri-Mthoniswa.

PrEP is a highly-effective drug that reduces the risk of acquiring HIV from an HIV-positive sexual partner by about 99%.

Zambia is playing host to the Third International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA).

The Conference which opened Monday is being held under the theme “Breaking Barriers: Repositioning Africa in the Global Health Architecture,” and is expected to be attended by over 6,000 delegates from across Africa.

The four-day conference has brought together researchers, policymakers, health ministers, players in the health sector and public health experts.

Among the high profile attendees include the Zambian President, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, World Health Organisation (WHO) boss Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Director General, Africa Centre for Disease Control Africa (Africa CDC) Dr Jean Kaseya Africa CDC. Others are Ministers of Health from Zambia, Rwanda and other countries.

The conference is being hosted in the capital Lusaka at the famous Mulungushi Conference by the Zambia National Public Health Initiative (ZNPHI) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) supported by WHO and Africa CDC.

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