B-Metro Comment: Play it safe this Valentineaï¿½ï¿½s

WHENEVER the country gets caught up in the heat of the moment brought about by the festive holidays, the soccer season and its victory celebrations and even the upcoming Valentinea��s Day, there is a tendency by the public to lower their guard and let emotions get the better of them. It is at such times that bad decisions are made, decisions that expose many to deadly sexually transmitted infections.

While we celebrate the strides that the country has made in its fight against HIV and Aids, with reports that we are on course to meet the HIV and Aids United Nations global targets to increase the number of people that know their status, go on treatment and those with undetectable levels of HIV by 2020.

We learn that some provinces have even surpassed the 90-90-90 targets that seek to ensure that 90 percent of the population know their status, 90 percent of the infected access treatment and that 90 percent of those on treatment have undetectable levels of HIV by 2020.

This is quite a milestone that deserves special mention but at the same time we believe this opportunity should not be lost to warn others to watch their sexual conduct so that we reduce the HIV and Aids burden.

Young people seem to be the ones that go crazy over events such as Valentinesa�� Day and the increasing number of those that take alcohol as a way to celebrate, has led to many terrible decisions being made.

There is also the problem of relations between young girls and older men and young men and older women where it becomes very difficult to negotiate safe sex due to the power dynamics in the relations.

We believe it is important to combine prevention with treatment for the country to meet its target of eliminating HIV/Aids from public health concerns.

There has been a call to men especially and young women to be encouraged to test so that they know their status. We believe testing ensures that people know their status and adjust their sexual conduct accordingly.

We believe the goal of ending the Aids epidemic by 2030 in Zimbabwe is attainable but it calls for all of us to play our part in seeking to prevent new transmissions, testing and going on treatment and adhering to the treatment so that we can lead fruitful lives.A� Love is in the air but let us love safely and create memories that we shall never regret.