HIV/Aids: New approaches needed Namibia has reportedly made serious strides in combating the scourge of HIV/Aids with the authorities ensuring that more people receive antiretroviral therapy on top of expanded HIV testing and counselling services. The country has also made headway to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV. In fact, our success story has been used as a benchmark for best practice in the fight against HIV by both PEPFAR and the Global Fund. There is no doubt that the fight against HIV/Aids is one that faces many challenges and it will ultimately take concerted efforts to defeat it. With donor funding, meant to support our efforts, slowly drying up, the time is now for a spirited drive from all the various stakeholders to combat this scourge. Government alone will not achieve its mission without the active involvement of important stakeholders. Recent statistics indicated that girls between 15 and 19 years of age account for 90% of all new HIV infections in Southern Africa compared to 74% in East Africa. This high HIV/Aids prevalence among very young people is a scary concern and one wonders if much is being done to eliminate this. Are young people provided with the necessary information and tools they need to protect themselves from HIV? Are they provided with comprehensive sex education and youth-friendly, affordable healthcare? We really need to go back to the drawing board and strengthen comprehensive school and community-based HIV prevention programmes. Parents, teachers and community leaders must become knowledge conveyors and provide information to our young people about abstinence, condoms, the dangers of having multiple sexual partners, as well as to discourage the culture of having sugar daddies. This could go a long way in helping to reduce HIV rates among our youth and to prevent risky behaviour among our young people. Moral regeneration cannot be left exclusively to churches and schools. Equally parents and the community need to have honest talks with their children about the dangers of early and reckless sexual activity. We need new approaches to intensify the fight against HIV/Aids; otherwise we will fail the youth of our country.