STATEMENT BY MS. MPATANJI NAMUMBA ON WORLD AIDS DAY
STATEMENT BY MS. MPATANJI NAMUMBA ON WORLD AIDS DAY
National Coordinator, AMICAALL Zambia
As we commemorate World AIDS Day 2025, we reflect on the significant progress made in the national HIV response, while acknowledging the disruptions that continue to threaten this progress. The theme, “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response,” calls on all of us to take bold, coordinated action to ensure that setbacks caused by social, economic, and health system challenges do not reverse the gains we have achieved.
At the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level (AMICAALL) Zambia, we recognise that transformation begins at the local level,where communities confront the realities of HIV every day. This requires us to intensify a coordinated multisectoral approach, bringing together local authorities, community structures, civil society, health institutions, youth networks, and traditional and religious leaders. By aligning our efforts and resources, we can close service gaps, strengthen community-based systems, and ensure that high-burden groups, especially adolescents and young women, have consistent access to prevention, treatment, and psychosocial support.
Our ongoing work through initiatives such as the Reducing Adolescent Pregnancies and new HIV Infections in Zambia (RAPHIZ) project, supported by UNAIDS, demonstrates the power of local leadership in transforming outcomes. On this World AIDS Day, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting councils to lead effectively, uphold human-rights-based approaches, and build resilient community systems capable of withstanding disruptions. Together, we can accelerate the transformation needed to achieve an AIDS-free Zambia.
