THE National Aids Council (Nac) has begun offering HIV
testing and counselling services at police roadblocks during public holidays,
targeting mainly Zimbabweans who are based in South Africa and Botswana
popularly known as injiva.
In an interview last week, acting Nac provincial manager
for Matabeleland South province, Mr Prosper Mupa said the roadside intervention
was part of a battery of strategies being implemented in the province to fight
HIV.
Matabeleland South province is one of the country’s HIV
hotspots with the highest HIV prevalence rate of about 21 percent, seven
percent higher than the national prevalence rate.
Mr Mupa said spousal separation was one of the biggest
drivers of HIV in the province hence the need to test and counsel returning
Zimbabweans before they get home to their partners.
“Roadside interventions are being conducted during public
holidays when most migrant workers will be returning from South Africa. We work
with police and pitch our tents at roadblocks where we will offer wide ranging
service to the returning workers.
“The idea is to counsel them to make informed decisions
when they get home to their partners after such a long time,” he said.
Mr Mupa added, “If one tests positive, we will advise them
to use protection to protect their partner, and if they test negative, still we
advise them to use protection until they know their partner’s status.”
He said the response to the roadside interventions had so
far been encouraging and there was a possibility of spreading the strategy
nationwide if it proves to be successful.
“So far the response has been positive and we have been
pleasantly surprised. Since we have started it as Matabeleland South, if other
provinces see it to be effective I’m sure it can be scaled up nationwide,” he
said.
Mr Mupa said Nac was also targeting truck drivers by
bringing HIV services to various truck stops near the country’s borders as one
of the many strategies being implemented to fight HIV.
He said truck drivers were among key populations at high risk
of HIV infection.
“Due to the nature of their work, truck drivers are at risk
of contracting HIV, so we are bringing the services closer to them. The idea is
to give such key populations as much information as possible, while at the same
time we provide testing and counselling services,” he said.
Mr Mupa said Nac was also holding interventions targeting
religious groups. He said in the second quarter of this year, the council
extended HIV testing and counselling services to members of an Apostolic sect
during a church meeting where the positivity rate was 30 percent.
“The positivity rate was higher than our normal positivity
rate of plus or minus 15 percent. I can’t really explain why the positivity
rate was as high. I think we may need to conduct a study to investigate the
factors leading to this,” he said.
Nac is also conducting moonlight testing, sports and
musical galas and the stop the bus campaign as part of efforts to spur the
country’s drive towards meeting the 90-90-90 targets Aids epidemic as a public
health threat by 2020.
According to the 2017 Global Aids update report released
last week, Zimbabwe is among the leading countries in the Eastern and Southern
African region in meeting the target. Sunday News
0 comments:
Post a Comment