Beauty Queen Uses Her HIV Positive Status As A Platform For Change22-year-old HIV+ activist recently crowned Miss Congo UK 2017
If you are in need of a little inspiration, look no further than Horcelie Sinda Wa Mbongo, a 22-year-old activist, Fine Arts student, and recently crowned Miss Congo UK 2017.
She is more than just a pretty face. According to BBC Africa, she has found a way to use her platform to end the stigma around living life with HIV and AIDS.
“I was born in the Congo and I only discovered that I was HIV positive here in the UK,” Mbongo told BBC Africa of receiving her diagnosis at age 11-years-old. “I was one of many children born with HIV who did not have the medication, but somehow the virus is not fighting the body as fast as other people. What that means, is that I lived ten years without any medication at all”.
According to UNAIDS, there are approximately 370,000 people living with HIV in the Democratic Republic of Congo; with 11 percent being children under that age of 14-years-old. In contrast, there are an estimated 1.2 million people in the United States living with HIV, including 156,300 individuals who do not know they are infected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
WHAT IS PANCAP?
PANCAP is a Caribbean regional partnership of governments, regional civil society organisations, regional institutions and organisations, bilateral and multilateral agencies and contributing donor partners established on 14 February 2001. PANCAP provides a structured and unified approach to the Caribbean’s response to the HIV epidemic, and coordinates the response through the Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS to maximise efficient use of resources and increase impact, mobilise resources and build the capacity of partners.
What are the Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026 targets and commitments?
If targets and commitments in the strategy are achieved:
- The number of people who newly acquire HIV will decrease from 1.7 million in 2019 to less than 370 000 by 2025
- The number of people dying from AIDS-related illnesses will decrease from 690 000 in 2019 to less than 250 000 in 2025.
- The goal of eliminating new HIV infections among children will see the number of new HIV infections drop from 150,000 in 2019 to less than 22,000 in 2025.
What are the 95-95-95 Targets for ending AIDS?
- 95% of People Living with HIV know their HIV status;
- 95% of people who know their status on treatment; and
- 95% of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads.
HELPFUL LINKS:
Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026, End Inequalities, End AIDS
https://pancap.org/pancap-documents/global-aids-strategy-2021-2026-end-inequalities-end-aids/
Caribbean Regional Strategic Framework on HIV and AIDS (CRSF) 2019-2025
https://pancap.org/pancap-documents/caribbean-regional-strategic-framework-2019-2025/