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Vaidah Mashangwa Gender
HIV/Aids remains one of the main challenges affecting, social, political and economic development in Africa and the world over. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) states that HIV/Aids has also affected the labour supply, productivity and investment.
According to UNAids , globally 35 million people are affected by HIV/Aids and out of this figure, 16 million people are women while children under 15 years are 3.2 million. The fact that more women than men are infected and affected should be a cause for concern to governments and the policy makers, including the general populace. Women and girls are more vulnerable to HIV/Aids than men due to their vulnerability on issues to do with power, rape and sexual abuse and lack of power to negotiate for safe sex, early marriages and harmful cultural practices.
According to the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey 2010-2011, Zimbabwe continues to experience one of the worst HIV infections rate in sub-Saharan Africa though there is a notable progress to date. Zimbabwe has done tremendous work in terms of prevention, care and treatment programmes to curb the epidemic.
The main HIV mode of transmission in Zimbabwe is heterosexual contact which account for 92 percent of all HIV infections in the country, the second being the transmission of the virus through mother to child during pregnancy, child birth and breast feeding.
Other preventative measures in Zimbabwe include use of condoms, staying faithful to one partner, male circumcision and delaying sexual activity among young people.
At a recent Provincial Aids Action Committee (PAAC) workshop in Bulawayo comprised of government departments and the civic society, participants pointed out that while the male condom is easily accessible in both the urban and rural areas, the female condom is never available in most outlets and pharmacies.
There is also a general belief among some males and females that the female condom is too big and that can be refuted as it fits well within the walls of the vagina.
Women with disability also highlighted that it is difficult for them to squat and use it with ease due to the nature of their disability which vary from one individual to the other.
There was also a general feeling that while the male condom was and is widely marketed through advertisements, not much was done and is being done about the female condom. Some women interviewed expressed their ignorance on how it is used. All interested parties therefore should take appropriate measures to address the gap.
In 2013, 1.5 million people globally died of Aids and out of these, 1.3 million were adults. On the other hand, newly infected people were 2.1 million with adults totalling 1.9 million.
UNAids highlighted that the aim now is to bring the HIV epidemic under control by 2030 by ensuring 90 percent reduction in new HIV infections, 90 percent reduction in stigma and discrimination and 90 percent reduction in Aids related deaths by 2030.
This calls for every individual to act responsibly by ensuring that those that are negative remain negative and those that are positive use protection and adhere to Anti-retroviral Treatment (ART).
In the area of stigma and discrimination there has been good progress with more and more people appreciating the epidemic at family and community level including the health personnel attitudes towards the infected.
Ambitious targets were also recently set by UNAids World Conference in Melbourne Australia of testing 90 percent of people for HIV, by putting 90 percent people on ART and to ensure that 90 percent of people living with HIV on ART have suppressed viral load by 2020.
To ensure the 90 percent HIV testing by 2020, Zimbabwe needs to test 650,000 people under the Zimbabwe Population Based HIV Impact Assessment (ZIMPHIA) programme. In order to ensure that 90 percent people living with HIV are on ART, the country needs to initiate an additional 550,000 people living with HIV on treatment.
Being on ART means living positively, passionately and productively and that treatment is beneficial to the individual and community. After all, ART today is less toxic easier to take and more effective. In order to reach the 90 percent durable suppressed viral load, 1.1 million ART users must adhere to their treatment regimes.
It is envisaged that with focus, prioritisation and resource allocation, Zimbabwe’s response to HIV can avert 560,000 new infections and 291,000 Aids -related deaths by 2013.
In Zimbabwe an estimated 1.3 million adults are living with HIV and an estimated 70,000 women living with HIV become pregnant each year. It is estimated that 34 percent of the total new HIV infections will occur among young people (15-24 years) with girls accounting for 21 percent.
HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe has, however, declined from 25.07 percent in 2002 to 14.80 percent in 2014. New HIV infection also declined by 46 percent between 2002 and 2013.
HIV prevalence by province indicated that Matabeleland South had the highest prevalence of 21 percent, followed by Midlands with 17 percent and Harare at 16 percent. The least province was Manicaland which had a 10 percent prevalence in 2013 according to the National Aids Council (Nac). In 2014, Bulawayo recorded the highest prevalence of 14 percent, Matabeleland South 13 percent and the least was Masvingo with 8 percent.
In 2013, 102,917 males aged 10-29 years were circumcised and in 2014, 194,986 men of the same age group were circumcised.
Sexual abuse cases are highest among the 11-16 age group with a total of 191 females sexually abused compared to 19 men in the second quarter of 2015 and out of these nine females tested positive while there was no man who tested positive.
Zimbabwe will, therefore, carry out the Zimphia programme led by the Ministry of Health and Child Care. This is an HIV survey first of its kind in Zimbabwe and the rest of the region to determine the current status of HIV in the country.
This will be a door-to-door HIV testing exercise and the results will determine the impact of past and present interventions and the coverage of HIV related services at present. ZIMPHIA will give participants the opportunity to get free and voluntary HIV testing and counselling in the privacy of their homes.
As a country, there is a need to increase the use of both the male and female condom, uphold the issue of being faithful to one sexual partner and increase uptake of male circumcision so that we reach the set targets of 90-90-90 percent targets by 2020 and 2030.
Vaidah Mashangwa is Bulawayo’s Provincial Development Officer, Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development. She can be contacted on +263 772 111 592 and email: [email protected].
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