Lualaba: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has embarked on a significant national initiative to eradicate AIDS among children by the year 2030. This initiative has been lauded by the United Nations as a beacon of hope, especially amidst the growing challenges of global funding constraints.
According to EMM, the President of the DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, emphasized the urgency of the situation at a recent government conference in Lualaba province. He stated that the country cannot continue to allow children to be born and grow up with HIV when there are existing tools to prevent, detect, and treat the infection effectively. This five-year initiative has received an initial commitment of $18 million in national funds and is designed to enhance political leadership, strengthen healthcare systems, and ensure inclusive access to healthcare, particularly for children, adolescents, and pregnant women.
While the DRC has made progress in providing antiretroviral treatment to adults living with HIV, with 91 percent receiving access, the treatment availability for children has stagnated, with only 44 percent of children living with HIV receiving lifesaving treatment. This figure has not improved for over ten years. Thousands of Congolese children are infected each year, often due to insufficient screening among pregnant women, which misses the opportunity to prevent mother-to-child transmission and safeguard the mothers’ health.
President Tshisekedi described the eradication of pediatric AIDS as a moral and social justice imperative, highlighting its significance as an indicator of dignity.
The Presidential Initiative focuses on four core priorities: improving early detection and treatment of HIV for children, adolescents, and pregnant women; preventing new infections in these groups; ensuring immediate treatment for those diagnosed; and removing structural barriers that hinder young people’s access to health services.
The initiative has been praised by the UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) as a commendable example of national leadership needed to address critical gaps in the global HIV response. Susan Kasedde, UNAIDS Country Director in the DRC, commended the initiative, noting that it is a much-needed positive development at a time when development financing is under strain. She highlighted that President Tshisekedi’s leadership initiative is a beacon of hope, especially when crucial HIV services are threatened by recent funding cuts.
According to UNAIDS, these funding cuts pose a risk to vital HIV services, with a potential shortage of medication and condoms within months. Key areas such as antenatal testing, pediatric treatment, and data quality monitoring have also been affected.