GOVERNMENT says it is ready to host the International Conference on Aids and STIs in Africa (ICASA) in Harare and Victoria Falls next month.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Health and Child Care minister Douglas Mombeshora, however, expressed concern that power outages may affect the smooth running of the conference.
“I'm sure the power challenges would have been dealt with. We currently have units 7 and 8 under maintenance now and they are producing over 1 000 megawatts , a few hundreds short of the local requirements. We have made requests for importation of additional power should we get to ICASA with persistent power challenges,” Mombeshora said.
Zimbabweans are going for several hours without electricity due to depressed electricity generation and ongoing maintenance work at the coal-fired Hwange Power Station.
On Wednesday, government said it was pinning its hopes on independent power producers to fill the supply gap.
The country is also grappling with a cholera outbreak that has swept across many districts.
Mombeshora said the cholera outbreak would not pose a threat to ICASA.
“Regarding cholera, it is now under control. Yes we have had some worrying incidents in the past weeks but now the cases are dropping and the recovery rate has increased,” he said.
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Mombeshora said security of delegates was guaranteed and accommodation was also in place as the country took notes from the previous conference it hosted in 2015.
Speaking at the same Press conference, ICASA director Luc Bodea said this year’s event would be headlined by a research presentation on a newly-found malaria vaccine, among others.
“We have more than 3 000 confirmed participants and we expect the number to increase as we draw near to the event. The number of research presentations is impressive as we have more than 700 presentations,” Bodea said.
Bodea expressed confidence in the country’s ability to host the high-level international event.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has also said Zimbabwe will use the conference to re-invigorate national responses to HIV and Aids.
ICASA president David Parirenyatwa said the country was ready to host the event.
“Zimbabwe is now so ready, right from governmental level through the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the National Aids Council. I am very impressed as president of ICASA,” said Parirenyatwa.
Last week, organisers of the conference said deliberations would focus on the prevention of diseases such as cervical cancer amid a high level of negligence and laxity in screening and diagnosis.
The conference, which will be held in Zimbabwe from December 4 to 9 this year, will be accompanied by several side events.
