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THE countrya��s tangible successes in its fight against HIV and Aids should be celebrated by all those that appreciate the impact of this national emergency and pandemic.
Many countries still seek Zimbabwea��s template of its long road to success in reducing the rate of transmission among its population.
We believe the provision of information in a sustained and structured way over the years has paid dividends with health authorities, together with all other stakeholders, having played a pivotal role in this.
In our previous edition, we carried a story in which the National Aids Council said that it had made recommendations to the Government for the teaching of HIV/Aids as a stand-alone subject that is examinable at
Grade Seven in a bid to ensure the young generation that is most vulnerable has adequate information that would help it make wise choices in life.
As the country pursues the 90/90/ 90 goal we believe it is quite significant that we seek new ways of increasing the momentum with which we tackle issues to do with HIV and Aids.
The campaign to ensure that 90 percent of the population know their status, 90 percent of those that know their status are initiated on anti-retroviral treatment and 90 percent of those have viral suppression by 2030, is quite an achievable goal that, however, calls for sustained effort instead of resting on our laurels and gloating over our past successes.
Elsewhere in these pages, we report on efforts by traditional leaders in Gokwe to support that national effort by ensuring that men whose wives are pregnant and go for HIV testing are also obliged to undergo the tests. It is our hope that the resistance by men shall be broken down over time.A� Maybe the early teaching of the subject at primary level could be just what the doctor ordered.
Also, Zimbabwe is running a pilot programme of self-testing in selected districts across the country in an endeavour to improve access to testing which is the first step towards accessing HIV treatment.
It is our hope that the self-testing pilot programme will provide the country with enough information to effectively manage such an exercise on a larger scale and also show the risks and advantages associated with such an approach.
The fact that we are now accustomed to a certain way of counselling and testing should not shut out other options and it is our hope that mass self-testing shall be rolled out in the near future.
It would appear there is already demand for self-testing kits, with some quarters already unprocedurally selling the kits in the country. It is quite unfortunate that such cases of unregulated self-testing are not captured in official statistics that continue to show low levels of testing among men, prostitutes, gold panners and groups such as long distance drivers.
It is also quite important for authorities to ensure that those that test are not exposed to anxiety by failing to get treatment should they be found to be positive. We believe if that guarantee is given that once one tests positive, they can be initiated, we will be well on our way to meeting our goals of ending HIV/Aids as a public health concern by the year 2030 so that we could possibly devote more time to non-communicable diseases that have wreaked havoc among our population partly due to lifestyle changes.
Online Reporter