ZAMBIA and the United States of America have signed a partnership framework for HIV/AIDS that will result in the US government giving out K1.2 trillion next year towards the AIDS fight.

And Health Minister Kapembwa Simbao has commended the US government for its continued support to the health sector even in the face of the global financial crisis in 2008 as well as Zambia’s financial mismanagement last year.

The partnership framework agreement would run from 2011 to 2015.
United States Ambassador to Zambia Mark Storella signed on behalf of his government while Mr Simbao and Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane signed on behalf of the Zambian Government.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Mr Simbao said over the years, America had consistently increased its level of funding to the entire health sector even in difficult times.

“What is exciting is that funding from the United States government did not decrease during the global financial crisis while there was no withdrawal or suspension of funding by the United States government following the allegations of financial mismanagement in the health sector last year,” Mr Simbao said.

He said the Government would ensure that the agreed-upon measures to strengthen governance in the health sector were implemented to stop a repeat of the financial mismanagement of 2009.

Mr Simbao said the Government was committed to the fight against AIDS and commended America for its continued help.
[pullquote]“What is exciting is that funding from the United States government did not decrease during the global financial crisis while there was no withdrawal or suspension of funding by the United States government following the allegations of financial mismanagement in the health sector last year,” Mr Simbao said.[/pullquote]
The minister said the increasing number of patients due to HIV/AIDS was overwhelming the health sector as well as devastating on the country’s economy.

Speaking earlier, Dr Musokotwane said thousands of people were dying of AIDS on an annual basis.

Dr Musokotwane said Zambia was ranked seventh highest globally among the countries suffering from AIDS.

“HIV and AIDS pandemic is one of the main challenges affecting the effective delivery of health services in Zambia. The devastating effects of HIV/AIDS run across all economic and social sectors, implying that the disease is not only a health problem,” Dr Musokotwane said.

He said the partnership agreement was in line with the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP).

And Mr Storella said the funds would be for strengthening, prevention, treatment, care and support activities in the fight against AIDS.

He said AIDS was one of the greatest threats to sustainable human development and regretted that there were more than one million Zambians living with HIV.

“Zambia’s achievement of national targets as of 2009 includes testing 1,550,000 people and placing nearly 285,000 men and women on anti-retroviral therapy.
[ Times of Zambia ]

A cross section of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and church groups have welcomed the Catholic Church for embracing the use of condoms to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Pope Benedict XVI has said condom use can be justified in some cases to help stop the spread of AIDS.

This is according to the BBC news monitored in Lusaka.
Pope Benedict said during a visit to Cameroon last year that handing out condoms might actually make HIV infection worse.
And Zambia National Aids Network (ZNAN) communications officer Sam Kapembwa says the reality of the current situation requires the use of condoms in certain cases.

“There are cases of discordant couples in which one partner is positive while the other is negative, or both couples are positive. Condoms come in handy in such situations,” he said.

Mr Kapembwa commended the Church for embracing the use of condoms in certain cases.
International Fellowship of Christian Churches Bishop Simon Chihana said his church has always advocated the use of condoms as the best measure of family planning.

“This is a big U-turn by the Catholics on this matter because it has to do with the times we are living in. I think the Catholics condemned it because it promoted promiscuity, but I am sure that the Church has learnt lessons from the reality,” he said.

And Evangelical Youth Alliance president Reverend Moses Lungu said the position taken by Pope Benedict should be encouraged in a way because there are cases where the use of condoms should be encouraged.
Rev Lungu, however, said the spread of AIDS is as a result of people indulging in illicit behaviour.
He said from the worldly perspective, it is all right for people to use condoms.

“For people outside the church, we will not stop people who are using condoms,” he said.
[pullquote]“This is a big U-turn by the Catholics on this matter because it has to do with the times we are living in. I think the Catholics condemned it because it promoted promiscuity, but I am sure that the Church has learnt lessons from the reality,” he said.[/pullquote]
Rev Lungu advised people to stay away from illicit sex.
Pope Benedict XVI has said condom use can be justified in some cases to help stop the spread of AIDS, the first Vatican exception to a long-held policy condemning condom use.
The comments were made in a new book, which the Vatican newspaper ran excerpts of in its Saturday edition.

The Church’s hardline stance over contraception has led to the Vatican being heavily criticised for its position in the context of the AIDS crisis.
The book – Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times – is based on a series of interviews the Pope gave the German Catholic journalist, Peter Seewald, earlier this year.

The Pope, however, made it clear that he considers the use of condoms a last resort and not a way to prevent conception. The example he gave of when they could be used was in the case of male prostitutes.
Amid his vigorous defence of the Church in contemporary society, the Pope acknowledged some of the Church’s failings, like in the sexual-abuse crisis, which he calls “a volcano of filth” sent by the devil.

He pointed to a “readiness for aggression” among those who criticised him for revoking the excommunication of a bishop who denied the scope of the Holocaust.

The Pope also discussed his contentious speech in Regensburg, Germany, in 2006, which provoked the ire of the Muslim world; denounced drug abuse; explained what he described as the impossibility of ordaining women as priests; and, with surprising candour, said that if he did not feel up to the task of being pope, he would resign.
[ Zambia Daily Mail ]