adminThis emerged during a three-day TB and HIV media-training workshop, which ended in Bulawayo yesterday.
The workshop, organised by the Southern Africa HIV and Aids Information and Dissemination Service (SafAIDS), was attended by journalists from different media houses.
During the discussions participants, who included officials from Bulawayo City Council’s Department of Health Services, said there was need for the country to work collectively in finding alternative funding for HIV/
Aids programmes as opposed to depending on foreign donor funding.
The participants said although Zimbabwe had made strides in reducing new infections, with the HIV prevalence rate now pegged at around 13,7 percent, the declining global funding on HIV and Aids programmes was a major cause for concern.
They called for joint resource mobilisation strategies, advocacy, capacity building and community involvement in the fight against HIV/Aids and TB.
In its latest report early this month the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicated that HIV global funding was declining.
“Recent data indicating that HIV funding is declining is a deeply troubling trend that must be reversed if the international community is to meet its commitments on HIV,” reads the report.
The call comes at a time when global health financiers such as the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria and Medecins Sans Frontieres have scaled down their programmes, in some cases totally suspending them citing constrained budgets.
The development has induced panic among thousands of people who are on anti-retroviral treatment.
The participants underscored the need for the media to continue to play its role of increasing awareness and educating people on the importance of preventing the spread of HIV/Aids.
“Everyone believes what they read and watch on say, television, so the media is critical. As such the media should be advocates in the fight against TB and HIV and Aids in our communities,” said Mrs Sithokozile Hove, the city council’s TB and HIV and Aids trainer.
“HIV and Aids and TB are not a tired story because they continue to affect a lot of people in the country and the world over. HIV and Aids is the number one killer the world over followed by TB.
“TB is the commonest opportunistic infection among people living with HIV and Aids and increases the risk of progression from HIV to Aids. In Bulawayo 80 percent of people living with HIV and Aids are suffering from TB.”
Mrs Hove urged members of the public to pay attention to TB symptoms and to seek early treatment.
Topics discussed at the workshop include the relationship between HIV/Aids and TB, fighting stigma and discrimination, social implications of TB reports in the media and the general role of the media in health issues.
The journalists in turn expressed concern over what they called “information black-out” from health officials whenever they sought it.
Recommendations were also made to engage different stakeholders in order to provide a more holistic approach towards combating HIV/Aids and TB.
Online Reporter