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Trust Freddy Herald Correspondent

Zimbabwe has won the bid to host the 2023 International Conference on Aids and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, ICASA 2023, scheduled for December next year.

ICASA is organised by the Society for Aids in Africa and Zimbabwe was one of three countries that made a bid before the deadline of August 5.

The Society for AIDS in Africa has now told Dr Bernard Madzima, the chief executive of the National AIDS Council, that the verification process had ended with the selection of Zimbabwe as the host.

“We are pleased to inform you that based on the assessment visit conducted on 28 September to 1 October 2022 in Zimbabwe, and the deliberation of SAA Board Council members, the bid of Zimbabwe to host ICASA 2023 has been approved,” reads part of the letter from the society.

President Mnangagwa last month approved the bid to hold the summit.

Before a bid may be legally considered, ICASA mandates that nations planning to host the conference must have clearance from their Government’s highest authority.

Given these circumstances, Dr Luc Armand Bodea, director of ICASA and coordinator of the secretariat of the Society for AIDS in Africa, met the President last month at State House in Harare to obtain his approval before he and his staff evaluated Zimbabwe’s application.

The Society for AIDS in Africa, however, stated that before the official announcement, the agreement to host ICASA 2023 should be signed between the Society for AIDS in Africa and the host country.

So the letter from the society also sent a copy of the necessary agreement.

“The Society for AIDS in Africa is proposing to sign the MoU between 17 to 19 October 2022 in Zimbabwe and to also launch officially the announcement of ICASA 2023 Zimbabwe, 4 to 9 December 2023,” Dr Bodea said.

The SAA also said it would also launch the call for the design of the ICASA 2023 Logo as well as the call for ICASA 2023 thematics during signing ceremony and announcement.

SAA congratulated Zimbabwe for winning the bid to host the conference, saying this could be a major turning point in the quest to end of AIDS.

“Dear Dr Bernard Madzima, kindly accept our congratulations as the host of ICASA 2023 and extend our greetings to President of Zimbabwe, the Vice President and good people of Zimbabwe,” said Dr Bodea.

“We believe that ICASA 2023 will be a turning point in our quest to strengthen the health system in Africa towards the end of AIDS.”

Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Constantino Chiwenga recently informed the ICASA executive board that the country was prepared to host the conference in Victoria Falls in 2023 because it previously hosted the event in Harare in 2015.

The conference is expected to market the country as a centre of excellence for provision of research and training in HIV and Aids and TB, and as a safe tourist destination.

Over 1 000 direct and indirect jobs in the hospitality, transport, and security sectors are anticipated to be generated by the conference both before and after the conference.