WINDHOEK, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Namibia has made significant progress in addressing and combating HIV/AIDS which has resulted in the reduction of the number of related deaths by 60 percent, Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula said Tuesday.
Speaking at the commemoration of World AIDS Day, Shangula said there were 10,200 deaths in 2003, compared to about 3,000 deaths in 2020 due to AIDS related causes.
He said, this has been achieved through robust strategies and programs that Namibia and supporting partners have put in place.
"Namibia has now reduced new infection rates in new-born babies to below 2 percent, equally, new infections among adults 15-49 years old have been reduced significantly," said the minister.
The 2017 Namibia Population-based HIV Impact Study and the recent programmatic data show that Namibia has surpassed the 90-90-90 UNAIDS targets before the deadline of the year 2020.
According to the UNAIDS ambitious treatment target to help end the AIDS epidemic, by 2020, 90 percent of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status; by 2020, 90 percent of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy; by 2020, 90 percent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.
The study also shows that the country is on its way to achieving all UNAIDS fast tracked targets of 95-95-95 before 2030. Namibia's progress currently stands at 95-90-91. Enditem
