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Minister Murigande calls for strengthening HIV AIDS prevention services.

The Minister of Education Charles Murigande has called on all stakeholders to double their efforts in delivering better services in the fight against the AIDS scourge. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 5th National Pediatric Conference on Wednesday, the minister hailed the successful organization of the conference, saying that it had brought together experts from different corners of the World. While commending the remarkable progress on care and prevention of HIV and the reduction of pediatric infections, Murigande stressed the need to be more innovative. Concerning awards given out, the minister said that it was an evidence that there are talented people committed to research and requested that recommendations presented at the conference should be the basis for the action plan. “I have no doubt that the recommendations will be implemented. I was also happy to see that there are active researchers,” the minister added.
The conference recommended that there be greater involvement of all stakeholders (including local authorities) in the protection of the rights of children and youth against the sugar mammy and sugar daddy phenomenon. They called for strengthening the anti-AIDS clubs in schools and supporting the integration of dialogue around sexual and reproductive health in the school environment. The conference also called for the application of communication for development strategies to address some cultural barriers to promote parent-child communication on sexuality, sexual and reproductive health.
Participants also called for developing a psychosocial guide and ensure the full support implementation by all stakeholders as well as strengthening social protection committees through training and financial support. They requested that social protection programs be scaled up to cater for the needs of the Orphans and vulnerable children and that best practices from different stakeholders be documented and disseminated.