Education Permanent Secretary – Education Services, Jeol Kamoko, has urged young people in Schools to equip themselves with knowledge on HIV. The education ministry official believes that HIV education will help students reduce their risks of infections and live healthy lives.
Kamoko said learning about HIV at an early age will arm youths with enough information on how to live safer lives. Proper education about HIV will also help the young minds of the country in avoiding stigma.
The Permanent Secretary made these remarks while he was speaking in Lusaka on Tuesday, January 30 2024. At the time, PS Jeol Kamoko was officiating at a meeting between donors and FutureLife-Now.
FutureLife-Now is a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) programme. The initiative is approved by the region’s 16 SADC Ministries of Education. The aim of the programme is to strengthen the education sector’s response to HIV and comprehensive Sexual education (CSE).
Further, the programme is designed to improve linkages between Schools and Health providers. It is supported by the SADC NGO MIET Africa, and funding comes from the SWIS Agency for Development Corporation.
“As a Ministry we are grateful to our donors for supporting the programme whose overall goal is to reduce the number of New HIV infections and improve Anti-Retroviral treatment (ART) adherence among adolescents and young people aged between 15 -24 in the SADC region.” MR. Kamoko said.
Zambia was among the 4 Member states that piloted the programme in 10 Secondary Schools from September 2019 to June 2023 in Two (2) Provinces of Lusaka and Central.
The people of the country, especially the young section of the population, must be educated about HIV so that they can protect themselves. At the same time, the youngsters must learn not to encourage any stigmas and respect all members of the society.
With proper education, as advocated by the Permanent Secretary – Education Services, Jeol Kamoko, people would be more sensitive to the needs of HIV positive population. They will also not engage in any hurtful or stigmatizing behaviors.