Honourable Member of Parliament Mrs. Phiri, Vice-Chancellor Serpell, invited guests, members of the university community and beyond. I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to commemorate World AIDS Day with you in your country, at your university.
As was mentioned, my name is Sarah and I am a representative of the Centre for International Health. The Centre is part of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto in Canada. Currently, I am acting as an HIV/AIDS Knowledge Network Officer in the UNZA HIV and AIDS Response Programme.
I would like to elaborate on the relationship between UNZA and the University of Toronto and how this relationship functions in the fight against HIV and AIDS. However, I would like to say a few words about the University of Toronto’s Centre for International Health - its goals and its programs.
Like UNZA, the University of Toronto is a doctoral and medical university. It was established more than 175 years ago and numerous students who have become world leaders have passed through its doors, including the United Nations Special Representative on HIV and AIDS- Mr. Stephen Lewis. Arguably even more remarkable is the fact that today the University of Toronto is proud to have representatives of Africa, Asia, Europe, the America’s and Oceania comprise its population of students and faculty.
Given the diverse nature of its population and of the programs offered at University of Toronto it is not surprising, that the Centre for International Health, or CIH, was founded 5 years ago. The CIH was mandated to harness the expertise and knowledge of the University of Toronto as a whole and apply it to improving global health through research, education and service.
The HIV/AIDS Initiative in sub-Saharan Africa, more simply the Initiative, is CIH’s leading program and for the last 3 years has sought to build lasting and dynamic research, education and service partnerships with and between universities, governments and non-governmental organizations. One of the Initiative’s objectives is the design of best practices and their dissemination, through a Knowledge Network. The Knowledge Network is an online monthly publication that functions as a forum for universities to share information and expand communication. The University of Toronto functions as a hub but it is the African partners that drive it. The Initiative has streamlined its resources to work with five universities in Sub-Saharan Africa, including UNZA.
Today, as we recognize World AIDS Day here at UNZA, HIV/AIDS Knowledge Network officers such as myself are commemorating World AIDS Day at the Universities of Dar es Salaam and Namibia. More importantly, Dr. Ngoma- a Senior Lecturer, Consultant Paediatrician and Neonatologist and the current Chairperson of UNZA’s Vice Chancellor’s committee on HIV and AIDS- is giving a key note address along side the University of Toronto’s Dean of Medicine and an HIV/AIDS vaccine researcher at the World AIDS Day Event at the University of Toronto. I know that the Initiative and the University of Toronto as a whole are encouraged by Dr. Ngoma’s compassion, eloquence and the strong message of collaboration she stands for. This not only speaks to the strength of the partnership between our universities but to the fact that World AIDS Day is recognised and meaningful to people not only at UNZA and in Zambia, but across the southern African region and in-fact globally. As partners, UNZA is linked to World AIDS Day activities taking place in Toronto, New York, Berlin, Windhoek, Dar es Salaam and here in Zambia in Choma.
The partnership between the University of Toronto and UNZA began in 2004 with Mr. Musheke Kakuwa of the Unit of Physical Education at UNZA, Dean Bruce Kidd of the Faculty of Physical Education at the UofT, Donald Njelesani and Aaron Yarmoshuk from the. In February of this year UNZA and UofT organized a workshop which was officially opened by President Mr. Levy Mwanawasa and allowed over 60 physical education specialists in Zambia to discuss with specialists from Canada, Namibia, Tanzania and the United Kingdom how physical education can be revitalized in an era of HIV/AIDS.
The link between physical activity and improved general health and decreased levels of stress is well documented. The potential relationship between physical activity and HIV and AIDS is multi-faceted; physical activity provides an avenue to socialise and interact in a healthy and productive manner. It can also improve fitness, self-esteem and assertiveness. To meaningfully enhance co-curricular physical activity it will be necessary to determine what you, the students would like to see with respect to physical activity on your campus- Not only what the athletes want but the entire population. In particular it will be necessary to target the needs and desires of the female students and staff; for example, through intramurals.
David Zakus, Director of the CIH, has said that “our strength is in our diversity: building relationships needs presence and communication”. I am here to act as a bridge between the University of Toronto and the University of Zambia- to facilitate communication as well as the sharing of knowledge and resources between the two universities. It is our similarities, as academic institutions combined with our shared objective of addressing the challenges of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that have brought us together. It is through our diversity that we will learn from each other, build capacity, and enhance the strength of the programs and services not only at UNZA and the University of Toronto but also at the other Knowledge Network institutions.
World AIDS Day is one day but our partnership and our united front against HIV and AIDS is ongoing. Let us not forget the messages presented today as we think about the challenges and together become part of the solution.
I look forward to working with you in the coming months. Thank you very much.
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