14th Colloquium on HIV and Hepatitis in IOC countries |22 July 2015
Seychelles gears up for regional health meeting
The Ministry of Health and its partners are gearing up for the 14th Colloquium on HIV and hepatitis affecting Indian Ocean countries.
The October 13 to 15 colloquium, which Seychelles will be hosting, will be held under the theme S’unir pour combler les écarts et arriver à zero (United to bridge the gap and reach zero infection).
It will bring together scientists, medical and paramedical practitioners, the civil society, non-governmental organisations, the private sector, people living with the infections and pharmacists among other concerned groups.
The three-day meeting aims to update the knowledge and management of HIV and hepatitis infections and share the best practices and experiences among stakeholders, policy and decision makers.
It will also be an opportunity to network and strengthen existing cooperation among IOC member states in the fight against HIV /Aids and hepatitis.
At a time when here in Seychelles HIV and hepatitis infections continue to increase, with 41 new cases of HIV (31 men and 10 women) and 43 new cases of hepatitis C (36 men and 7 women) for the first six months of this year, the Ministry of Health and its partners and everyone concerned with addressing health implications of the infections welcome the opportunity to discuss these worrying health concerns.
An organising committee chaired by health principal secretary Peggy Vidot has been put in place and recently two members of the committee -- Georges Madeleine, responsible for health promotion and communication and Ronny Arnephy, the chairperson of Ravane Océan Indien (an NGO advocating for the rights of people living with HIV and those most vulnerable to HIV infection) -- met media representatives to discuss ways to create awareness of this important meeting.
“Everybody knows how HIV and hepatitis C is transmitted but we still see increases in infection, so we need to continue to talk about this serious health issue and the colloquium is a great opportunity to know more what is happening in various areas relating to these infections,” Mr Arnephy said.
A number of important UNAids officials as well as health experts in the field will be here for the colloquium during which focus and attention will also be given to pharmacies which the world over sell different medicines for treating HIV, hepatitis as well as related diseases.
The colloquium is an annual event organised on a rotating basis by the Indian Ocean Commission countries and the 13th meeting was held in Reunion last year while Seychelles first hosted this important event in 2010.