LAUNCHING OF HIV/AIDS CAMPAIGN IN Maridi under theme ‘’triple 90 target, youth taking the lead’’.

Today the 1st of August 2017, we the CSOs (The Peer Project, Maridi Service Agency, YWCA-Maridi, MINYA and +Hope) launch four months (4) HIV/AIDS CAMPAIGN Under the theme ‘’ Triple 90 target, youth taking the lead’’.

As annual program, this year’s campaign will focus to enhance mobilization of communities in Maridi and beyond with especial attention to youth for HIV Testing and Counseling with subsequent starting of ARVs after diagnosed positive, with an overall goal to reduce viral load to undetectable level.

As many countries geared towards achieving 90-90-90 target a UNAIDS Initiative endorsed by World governments of the line ministries in 2014, which aims at making sure that 90% of positive people are diagnosed, of those diagnosed, 90% are put on ARVs, of 90% taking ARVs, 90% will have their viral load suppressed, a target to be achieved by 2020. As we launch this campaign, most of the Sub-Saharan Africa including South Sudan has never reached the pinpoint towards achieving the target.

With 3 years remaining towards a global agendum, we the Civil Society Organizations(CSOs) working in HIV/AIDS program in Maridi acknowledge the difficult situations the country is undergoing that significantly impacted on smooth provision of services on timely basis and sometimes occasional lack of preventives services like condoms in parts of Country.

Maridi in the last few years has witnessed raising prevalence, according to 2012 ANC Surveillance Survey, Maridi has a prevalence rate of 4.1% compared to 2.4% in 2009 ANC sentinel survey. The general prevalence of South Sudan is described as both a low generalized and concentrated with parts of the Country making greater disparity in regional prevalence with Western Equatorial at 6.8%, the highest and Northern Bahr El at 0.3% (ANC Surveillance Survey, 2012).

Despite all shortcomings affecting HIV/AIDS activities implementation in the Country in particularly Western Equatorial region, we the youth has to take the lead, we hereby re-echoed that no funding can reduce HIV infection in South Sudan without our commitment in joining our effects to combat HIV/AIDS epidemic as young people. Because when it comes to HIV infection overall burden, we the youth carry the greater burden and so requires to put our efforts together and take the lead in achieving triple 90-90-90 target we cannot lag behind but take the lead.

This campaign we are launching today will identify the most pressing challenges affecting realization of triple 90 targets among young people in South Sudan and draw attention of HIV/AIDS Stalk holders on how collectively those challenges can be addressed.

Most importantly the campaign intend to converge Youth Conference on HIV/AIDS as an engagement strategy where we shall be able to identify the gaps and the role of youth in making South Sudan free from HIV/AIDS.
In closing, we acknowledge the limitations lying a head of these campaign and we there use this opportunity to appeal for HIV/AIDS Implementing agency and government to support the initiative as well as friends of goodwill.

With combine efforts, we shall make an HIV/AIDS free South Sudan.

We hope to see every one rolling out of HIV TESTING AND COUNSELING

Maridi Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)

Peter Garang Ngor- HIV/AIDS CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR