Namibia’s former Health Minister, Richard Kamwi, said expanding the reach of HIV prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa was necessary toward global efforts to end the epidemic.

A statement by the British High Commission and Wilton Park on Tuesday stated that Kamwi echoed the sentiments to regional experts who were in Namibia from March 8 to 10 to discuss Sub-Saharan Africa HIV prevention response.

According to the statement, participants at the event managed to identify opportunities to deliver prevention to key populations, overcoming existing barriers and ensuring prevention can be prioritised, while treatment for HIV continues to be scaled-up.

The statement noted that Namibia’s First Lady, Monica Geingos, also UNAIDS Special Advocate for Young Women and Adolescent Girls, was also present at the occasion.

It recalled Geingos as stressing the need to find the places and language to engage with those at risk of HIV, the `BE FREE’ campaign in Namibia, and the success of developing smart partnerships for greater impact.

The Executive Director of the African Sex Workers Alliance, Daughtie Ogutu, said the meeting provided the much-needed regional forum to learn.

Ogutu said the meeting also shared how health systems were using new approaches to successfully bring HIV prevention to those who suffer the highest.

“We will never end HIV without dramatically escalating efforts to prevent the scourge among key populations,’’ he added.

Report says Sub-Saharan Africa is currently home to nearly 70 per cent of all people living with HIV and remains the region most affected by HIV globally.