AMBASSADOR SPEECHES

Ndola, August 02, 2007 

 

Honorable Deputy Minister of Health,
Dr. Lwipa Puma

Honorable Provincial Minister,
Mwansa Mbulakulima

Provincial Health Director, Dr. Chandwa Ngambi

Provincial Clinical Care Specialist, Dr. Omega Chituwo

Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development,
Ms. Melissa Williams,

Executive Director, Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital, Dr. Sam Phiri

Civic leaders,

Traditional leaders,

Members of the Press,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen


Today marks an important milestone in the fight against HIV/AIDS.  Today we bring to center stage the most vulnerable group of our society – children.

Every minute of every day, a child in Africa needlessly dies of HIV/AIDS.  Scores of small graves are scattered across Zambia with children whose smiles we will never see, whose voices we will never hear, and whose dreams we will never help realize because their lives were cut short through no fault of their own. These children could have been Zambia’s future leaders, scientists, teachers, doctors, and artists. But, sadly, we will never know what knowledge and joy they could have brought to the world.

Children are also the hardest hit when their parents succumb to HIV/AIDS and are tragically snatched away, leaving them out on the streets. According to reports, there are nearly 1.2 million orphans in Zambia under the age of 18, and of those 800,000 have lost one or both their parents to AIDS.

Deprived of love, food and shelter, many of them are forced to grow up alone, openly exposed to acts of violence, sexual abuse, exploitation and discrimination. Others, if they are lucky, find refuge with grandparents, aunts, or uncles who themselves are stretched far beyond their means. 

The situation is painful, and appalling. But an effective response is emerging, slowly yet steadily, with a few shining examples of hope that the world needs to hear.

Take Suzan’s story. She was only 12 months old when her grandmother brought her nearly lifeless body to the pediatric center at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka. Slumped in her grandmother’s arms, she stared vacantly into space. Like so many other children, Suzan too could have become a silent statistic. But, thanks to the early diagnosis of HIV infection and the provision of antiretroviral treatment, Suzan has now put on weight, plays with her friends, and has started to talk. Her grandmother’s outlook now is more hopeful than when she walked into that hospital a year ago.

Early detection and treatment of HIV/AIDS in infants is critical to ensure children live longer and healthier lives.  We have a collective responsibility, ladies and gentlemen, to deliver essential health care services to our young ones and a moral obligation to protect their welfare.

Zambia’s tomorrow depends on the children of today. That is why the Government of Zambia and the U.S. Government are determined to ensure that resources are in place to stamp out the scourge of HIV/AIDS.

Since 2004, the American people have provided Zambia with more than $330 million to fight HIV/AIDS through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, and in 2007, we will offer an additional $216 million to tackle the disease. No matter how many, and no matter how hard, the current challenges that we all face, the American people will not turn away. 

Today, our strong partnership with the Zambian Government moves to another level of commitment and action in the fight against HIV/AIDS.  By opening the doors to a new antiretroviral therapy clinic and pediatric laboratory at Arthur Davison’s Children’s Hospital, we are telling the world that children no longer are the hidden faces in this epidemic. We are making progress to step up responses to the suffering of thousands of children, adolescents, and young people who are infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. 

More than 700 children receive antiretroviral treatment at Arthur Davison hospital, which serves as the main pediatric referral center for all five northern provinces. In the coming months, I am certain that many more children will benefit from the family-centered ART clinic, which we just had the privilege to visit and the new laboratory that we just had the honor to open.

With the new tools for diagnosis and treatment facilities, Arthur Davison hospital now is equipped to provide full continuum of care, including:
•    Early HIV diagnosis for infants less than 18 months;
•    Confidential HIV counseling and testing with same-day test results for older children and their families;
•    Care and treatment for opportunistic infections; and
•    Anti-retroviral therapy.

We know that the fight against HIV/AIDS requires many tactics, including an unshakable conviction to protect the rights of the children. In that regard, the Zambia Prevention, Care, and Treatment Partnership (ZPCT), a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has worked closely with the Arthur Davison Hospital since May 2005 to ensure there is a family-friendly and confidential environment for children and adults to receive counseling, testing, and treatment.  Such an environment helps ease the pain of orphans and vulnerable children trying to cope with the grief of losing one or both parents, and facing the fear of discrimination. The ZPCT project also has provided essential equipment and supplies, training of staff, and technical assistance. 

We are proud to be a partner with the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative, which is providing laboratory supplies and equipment, and training clinical staff in the safe and proper collection of dried blood spots on filter paper for HIV testing. This technology helps improve access to HIV diagnosis in resource-limited areas. 

I would like to express my government’s sincere appreciation to all the people and organizations whose efforts have helped to scale up health care services for children in Zambia.  The gains we have made so far will make a difference, but we have to ensure that we first prevent people from getting new infections. We have the tools and the treatment, ladies and gentlemen, all you have to do is come forward and get tested. The sooner you know your status, the faster you will get help.

Working together in partnership, let us claim the future for ourselves and for our children.

Thank you.