Representatives of ministries of health, national AIDS committees and civil society organizations from 19 countries in western and central Africa gathered in Dakar, Senegal, from 16 to 18 November to take stock of progress, challenges and opportunities for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission and paediatric care of HIV.
Together with experts from international organizations, they called for action to Fast-Track the AIDS response and achieve the 90–90–90 treatment target by 2020. To reach the target in the context of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and paediatric care of HIV, it is critical to scale up HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy for pregnant women and children living with HIV.
The participants agreed on key elements of a regional strategy to accelerate the identification and effective management of pregnant women and children living with HIV. They also called on national and international actors to mobilize and cooperate so that children are no longer born with HIV or die of AIDS-related causes in western and central Africa.
"Ending the AIDS epidemic will only be possible if we eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and scale up paediatric care of HIV.”
Safiatou Thiam, Executive Secretary of the National Council against AIDS, Senegal
“Several decades of experience and lessons learned in the AIDS response have shown us that no results can be tangible and lasting without a partnership both at the national level and the global level. United, we must strive to meet the challenge in western and central Africa and to have an AIDS-free generation.”
Meskerem Grunitzky-Bekele, Interim Director, UNAIDS Regional Support Team for West and Central Africa
“Let us join forces for better health for women and children, who are the base and the future of our nations, and for better health for the population of western and central Africa.”
Katy Fall, Regional Manager for Central Africa, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
“It is not right that 30 years later children still die as if there had been no progress so far.”
Jeanne Gapiya, President of the National Association of Support for People Living with HIV and AIDS in Burundi
