WINIFRED OGBEBO x-rays the salient issues at the African Union special summit held last week in Abuja. Twelve years after the Abuja declaration in 2001, African leaders and heads of governments gathered in Abuja last week for a special African Union Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

The meeting also afforded them the opportunity to take stock of the progress that have been made over the years and to make new commitments to the eradication of the three infectious diseases.

Malaria

On the issue of malaria, how to close financial gap totalling over 50 per cent, was one of the main discourse.

The Executive Director of the RollBack Malaria Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Fatoumata Nafo-Traore, disclosed that the biggest challenges facing Africa were the double-edged problems of the financing gap and the development of resistance to insecticides.

She noted that though extra ordinary progress has been made in many African countries on malaria control, many of the countries are very poor and are in dire need of financial support to roll back malaria.

She said: " $5-6 billion is required yearly worldwide to fight malaria. The problem is worse hit in developing countries, especially in Nigeria. Only 50% of funds needed are made available through national budgets, but mostly from donor support. More funds are needed urgently."

Meanwhile, the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) says a lot still needs to be done.

A second quarter 2013 report sent to the Summit of the African leaders in Abuja, revealed that only 13 countries are on track to meet the AU targets and MDG's goals of reducing malaria morbidity to a level where mortality reaches near zero level by the end of 2015.

HIV/AIDS

At the summit, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), launched a new framework to accelerate action to reach 15 million people with antiretroviral treatment by 2015, aimed at reducing new infections and ensuring a healthy generation.

Speaking at the launch which was a panelist session, the executive director of the UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe, said that the framework, with the themed, "Treatment 2015" will afford counties the opportunity to expand and upscale HIV testing and treatment which has been proven to reduce the rate of infection, prevent new infections and enable a healthy generation.

He said with roughly 1000 days left to reach the global target of 15 million people on antiretroviral therapy by 2015, countries and partners need to urgently and strategically invest resources and efforts to ensure that everyone has access to HIV prevention and treatment services.

The framework reveals that the foundations for ending the AIDS epidemic are being established by scaling up HIV treatment combined with expanding access to other essential programmatic activities.

The WHO Country Representative, Dr Rui Gama Vaz, said that the new WHO published 'Consolidated Guidelines on the Use of Antiretroviral drugs for treating and preventing HIV infections recommends early initiation on ART.

According to him, it also promotes immediate ART for children under five years and breast feeding women, noting that switching to the new guidelines will save an additional three million lives globally by 2025.

Meanwhile, the PERFAR Coordinator, Ambassador Eric Goosby, added that at the end of 2012, 9.7 million people would have accessed antiretroviral therapy in resource limited setting.

Goosby said that the Treatment 2015 advocates three fundamental pillars which include Demand, Invest and Deliver. Demand which involves creating demand for HIV treatment, led by people living with HIV and those affected by HIV, which should be sustained by civil society and the international community.

Invest; mobilising sustained investment, giving priority to innovation and using the available resources as strategically as possible while Deliver has do with ensuring that health and community systems, infrastructure, enabling laws and policies as well as community systems are in place to deliver treatment to all people living with HIV who are eligible.

TB

President Goodluck Jonathan said TB is over 400 years old and has been with us all these years. However, he said by working very hard, Africa should be able to knock it out.

He said, "But for now, we have not done that though it has reduced significantly. From the statistics, it is more prevalent in Africa and people associate TB with poverty. So, TB has the same issues but I cannot say exactly except that like any other diseases that are caused by microbes, there are always resistant strains that come up from time to time and this has to be dealt with using improved drugs."

Way Forward

African leaders concluded their meeting with a consensus from member states that the region will look beyond 2015 to eradicate HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, while sustaining the progress made so far.

Briefing the press at the close of the African Union (AU) Special Summit of Heads of States and Governments on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria,Nigeria's President, Goodluck Jonathan, the African Union chairperson and Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn and the African Union Commission chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, agreed that accelerated efforts will be sustained to eradicate the three main diseases facing the region.

President Jonathan who said achieving the MDGs goals goes beyond 2015, added that the region has decided to look at sustainable development that would enable them eradicate these diseases in the region.

The AU Commission chairperson, Zuma, noted that all the countries in the African region are counting days to the achievement of the MDGs and so have accelerated work in that area but was quick to add that they were all looking beyond the 2015 deadline.

She said a committee has been constituted headed by the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson, which is to come up with an African position that would be used to negotiate at the next MDGs meeting.

She added that with strong commitment and political will from all African leaders, some level of successes will be recorded.

However, despite calls for the African Union to look inwards for resources to fund their response to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, the region is not ruling out external financing to stop the ravage of the diseases in Africa.

African Union chairperson and Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, said responsibility for the bulk of funding should rest on the continent's governments, adding that international assistance would also be required to help the region eradicate the three main diseases.

"Africa is committed to put the necessary amount of resources. We believe African leaders and countries should get the main stock of it, but we also need international community to support us," Desalegn said at a press briefing at the end of the AU Heads of States and Government Summit.

His comment came hours after President Goodluck Jonathan had said African leaders should "search inward" for solutions to the disease.

Jonathan had called on the region to "de-emphasise external funding and importation of essential medicines".

Funding response to the three diseases has been a major point since African leaders in 2001, agreed to increase health spending to 15% of their national budgets.

They restated concern about funding shortage in their declaration, insisting in their draft declaration: "While we are at a critical time in fighting the three diseases, we are still confronted by significant shortfalls in financing which threatens further progress."

Their commitments under the Abuja Declarations 12 years ago also called for increasing access to treatment and prevention services for millions affected by HIV, TB or malaria.

African Union Commission, AUC, insisted the declarations were not being left behind.

"We are not leaving them aside, we are taking them forward," said AUC chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Suma, at the post-summit briefing.