By Tracy Mtegha

Mzuzu, April 19, Mana: Residents of Mzuzu City and surrounding areas on Friday gathered at Kavibale Primary School Ground to commemorate World AIDS Day with a call for enhanced prevention of the pandemic.

Member of Parliament for Lilongwe West, George Zulu, who represented Speaker of Parliament, Catherine Gotani Hara, asked communities to come up with measures that work better for HIV prevention.

He said community members should to be involved in raising awareness about the pandemic and propose what should be promoted and discouraged in the fight against HIV in order to achieve zero new HIV infections by 2030.

“As we continue fighting the spread of HIV and other epidemics, we should also avoid stigmatizing and discriminating against people with HIV and AIDS and refrain from promoting practices which facilitate new HIV infections,” said Zulu.

Director of Health and Social Services for Mzimba North, Dr Naomi Mulwafu, said apart from letting communities lead in the fight against the pandemic, people should also use all the preventive measures to contain the pandemic by, among others, practicing abstinence, faithfulness and condomising.

Mulwafu urged people living with the virus to continue adhering to anti-retroviral therapy for enhanced effectiveness of the therapy and good health.

World AIDS Day is celebrated on December 1 annually.

The event was commemorated under the theme ‘Let community lead in the fight against HIV and AIDS’.