PRINCE HARRY WILL VISIT THE LONDON SCHOOL OF
HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE
London
Monday 10th July, 2017
Prince Harry will visit the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine on Monday 10th July. His Royal Highness will hear more about the School’s global efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, and will attend an HIV-focused roundtable discussion led by the charity Sentebale, of which Prince Harry is Patron.
On arrival, His Royal Highness will visit a number of LSHTM departments to see the vital work being undertaken to combat some of the world’s most pressing health issues. Prince Harry will firstly hear about Peek, an organisation which aims to increase access to eye care, and its school screening programmes in countries such as Botswana. His Royal Highness will be shown the latest advances, including the Peek app which teachers are being trained to use to test children’s eyesight.
His Royal Highness will then be given an overview of the School’s response to the recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa, followed by a presentation of its work on HIV. Prince Harry will hear about School research on interventions to improve HIV prevention and treatment services for young people in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the impacts of domestic violence on women and girls’ risk of HIV. The Prince will see a demonstration of a HIV self-testing kit, currently being used in a trial in Malawi where women attending antenatal clinics are given the kits to pass on to their male partners. His Royal Highness will also hear about an ongoing trial in Zambia and South Africa, exploring how a new approach to test and treat whole communities for HIV may affect HIV-related stigma.
Prince Harry will then attend Sentebale’s ‘Let Youth Lead’ roundtable discussion, chaired by Professor Baron Peter Piot, KCMG, the Director of the School and former founding Executive Director of UNAIDS. His Royal Highness will hear from three of Sentebale’s Youth Advocates from Lesotho and Botswana about their experiences of children and adolescents affected by HIV, and the challenges they are facing across the southern Africa region. In attendance will be global HIV leaders who will be invited to respond to the recommendations outlined by the advocates.
Sentebale’s ‘Let Youth Lead’ programme was launched in April in Lesotho at the charity’s first youth summit, and aims to provide a platform for young people to advocate to their peers to test for HIV and safely manage their status.
