The National Emergency Response Council on HIV and AIDS (NERCHA) is committed in efforts to halt the advance of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the Kingdom of Eswatini beyond 2022 in line with the new national slogan of Sicondzene Ngco! Ne HIV/AIDS; Asiyesabi, Focusing on the Fight against AIDS and not the Fright which involves stigma and discrimination. The new slogan was pronounced by His Majesty King Mswati III during the State Opening of the 4th session of the 11th parliament of Eswatini, which replaced the vision of Ending AIDS by 2022.

Transactional sex is not sex work but refers to non-marital, non-commercial sexual relationships motivated by an implicit assumption that sex will be exchanged for material support or other benefits. Most women and men involved in transactional sex relationships consider themselves as partners or lovers rather than sellers or buyers. Conflating transactional sex and sex work in intervention design and funding may be counterproductive, as interventions designed for sex workers will not reach people engaged in transactional sex.

Knowing your HIV status can lead to earlier treatment and prevent sickness. Many people have approached me asking how one can tell if “they have HIV”. I am always taken aback by such questions. Like, what? In 2022? Really? Anyway, the answer is simple. Unlike yester years where certain symptoms pointed to this and that, recently many diseases have similar symptoms, like we saw with COVID-19 presenting flu-like symptoms. It usually isn’t easy to tell whether one has simple flu or it is COVID-19. This therefore makes it very difficult to tell whether it is this disease and not the other. Which is why the only way to find out whether you are HIV positive or not, is to take an HIV test. The same way we take a COVID test to allay fears and clear all suspicion.

Last year the Eswatini HIV Recent Incidence Surveillance (EHRIS), gave alarming results about 10 Tinkhundla which had the highest increase in new HIV infections. This became a cause for concern for the multisectoral HIV response as new infections were higher among adolescent girls and young women. Without a doubt, this means this population is engaging in unprotected sex thereby posing a huge risk to HIV acquisition.

The week has been an eventful one where we celebrated World TB Day and spread messages around the importance of ensuring fast tracked Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) and Tuberculosis (TB) treatment in people living with HIV because, this ultimately saves lives.

Each year, the world commemorates World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.