Ethiopia conducts mass HIV testing as part of world record bid
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
December 2, 2014 (ADDIS ABABA) – To mark World AIDS Day, Ethiopia has conducted a mass HIV testing campaign in an attempt to set a new world record for the most number of people HIV tested in single venue in an eight-hour period.
Rahel Gettu, UNAIDS country community mobilisation and networking advisor in Ethiopia, said on Wednesday that a total of 3,383 people were tested for HIV status during the campaign held in Gambella Stadium.
Of those, 82 people – or 2.4% – returned a positive result and had since been linked to health facilities for support and further follow up.
The initiative aims to mobilise individuals and their families, including people in areas of high HIV transmission, to check their status and seek prevention and treatment services.
The event, which also is part of the multi-country HIV testing campaign in Africa, aims to break the Guinness World record currently held by Argentina, which conducted 3,733 free HIV tests in a single eight-hour period in Rosario city to mark World AIDS Day in 2012.
Campaigners are optimistic they have broken the record, but Guinness World Records has yet to confirm it.
The event witnessed a huge turnout, exceeding initial expectations among AIDS campaigners who had hoped to test 2,000 people.
State minister for health Dr Kesetebirhan Admassu and Gatluak Tut Cot, President of the Gambella People’s National Regional State, led the event, with support from the UN and other stakeholders.
Although significant progress has been achieved in Ethiopia to control the HIV/AIDS epidemic, “continued efforts by all stakeholders are needed to achieve an AIDS-free generation in Ethiopia,” said Admassu.
UNAIDS country director Warren Naamara read World AIDS Day messages from UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon and UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe, urging “all world leaders to unite in our common cause to close the gap and end AIDS together by 2030”.
Representative of the Ethiopian parliament, the Network of Networks of HIV Positives in Ethiopia (NEP+), senior government officials and the WHO’s representative to Ethiopia, Dr Pierre M’Pele-Kilebou, were among those who took part in the HIV testing campaign.
Gambella, which borders neighbouring South Sudan, has the highest HIV prevalence in Ethiopia, with 6.5% compared to the national figure of 1.3%, according to the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey 2011.
The region, located in the country’s south-west, also hosts tens of thousands of South Sudanese who fled the latest outbreak of violence in the young East African nation.
(ST)