This year's World AIDS Day commemoration in Zambia had the largest match past i have ever seen. It was well attended and various government ministries as well as civil society organizations participated.   

For some reason or other, i have rarely paid attention to certain world commemorations but this particular one caught my utmost attention. The participants matched through one of the country's largest and busiet roads...the Great East Road.

This important road, being the one that also leads to the International Airport, was closed as people matched with placards. Traffick jammed and vehicles where re-directed to alternative routes. I was amazed at this commitment to this cause.  What touched me the most was that it was not young people matching, as is usually the case...this time it was elderly men and women all wearing various colourful clothing displaying the demand to take the lead in stopping the deadly pandemic HIV and AIDS.

An enormous threat to human existence such as this can only be matched by an enormous response such as was exihibited on this day. I was reminded that we need to be this vigilant if AIDS is to let go of our generation.

The leadership connotation to this year's theme just tells all of us where we should be in this discourse....involved is where we should be....IT IS NOT FOR A CERTAIN SECTION OF OUR LEADERSHIP....we are the leaders in this fight.