HIV testing age reduced to 16 years

The new age of consent for HIV testing is now 16 years instead of 21 years, Minister of Finance and Development Planning Kenneth Matambo has said.

This change has been observed in the revised national HIV/AIDS policy, which was approved by Parliament in August last year.  He said that a major threat to gains in combating HIV/AIDS is the decline in donor funding. This means that government will be faced with increasing financial responsibilities to fill in the financing gap.  Further, he pointed that the government is seeking alternative ways to fund the health sector.

 He said that the process of developing a health financing strategy that will propose alternative ways of funding the health care system in the country given the continued budgetary situation is underway. The strategy will explore ways to contain costs in the health delivery services and promote efficiency.

Editor's Comment
Let us all go to vote

Figures released by the country’s electoral management body have shown that a total of 1, 037, 684 people have registered to vote.However, eligible voters could be discouraged by events leading to the voting day like poor execution of advance voting amid talks that the elections could be unfair.There have also been threats by certain opposition politicians that shall the elections not be free and fair, they will halt them.Despite these...

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