(ZANIS)-The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) International has expressed fear that the Covid-19 pandemic may hit hard if people continue to disregard the measures that have been put in place to contain it in various countries.
AVAC International Executive Director, Mitchell Warren, is worried that the virus can be more deadly to people living with HIV and that the desire to achieve the Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) benchmark may not be realised.
Mr Warren explained that if a person is on HIV medication with a consistently undetectable HIV viral load, the virus cannot be transmitted to a sex partner.
He added that it is important that people continue to adhere to treatment guidelines.
ZANIS reports that Mr Warren was speaking from the United States of America (USA) during a virtual cross border Science Media Café meeting dubbed “2023 World HIV Conference Overview’.
Mr Warren has further called for more investments in the fight against communicable diseases in various countries.
And Ntando Yola, a community engagement leader at the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF) in South Africa, said there is need for journalists to get involved in the science around prevention research on treatment of HIV in order to effectively elaborate and disseminate information to the public.
Mr Yola said communities need to also be involved especially when conducting HIV related conferences for them to participate fully.
“There are a lot of interventions that have been discovered but some countries are not adopting them despite the efficacy of those interventions to prevent new HIV infections, but it is good that Zambia has adopted some,” he said.
Meanwhile, Media Science Cafe Zambia Coordinator, Zarina Geloo, has urged journalists to highlight stories on health, including HIV in order to continue advocating for prevention and proportionately reduce the spread of the virus in the country among adolescents and women.
The virtual cross border Science Media Café attracted participants from Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
