President of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagame (right) met with UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé. Rwanda, 1 September 2009. Credit: UNAIDS/L.Rusanganwa

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé has met with President of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagame, and the First Lady of Rwanda, H.E. Jeanette Kagame, as well as representatives of civil society organizations.

Yesterday he addressed the 59th session of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa in Kigali. Mr Sidibé stressed the urgent need stop new HIV infections and called for a sea-change approach to prevent sexual transmission of HIV. “Prevention must become our watchword, the banner we raise in this critical stage of the response,” said Mr Sidibé.

Mr Sidibé also congratulated Dr Luís Sambo on his re-election as the WHO Regional Director for Africa and reiterated the full support of UNAIDS to him and WHO. The two organizations collaborate closely on several fronts including the Harmonization for Health in Africa initiative. Mr Sidibé spoke about the importance of the goal of primary health care: “These and other such efforts will enable us to do more with less—and do it more sustainably,” he said.