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THE Ministry of Health and Child Care, in conjunction with National Aids Council and the Youth Advocates Zimbabwe (YAZ), has launched a youth helpline to address challenges faced by young people in accessing services related to HIV prevention and treatment. Adolescents account for a majority of new HIV cases in Zimbabwe and yet they do not have easy and equal access to sexual and reproductive rights and services to help them reduce transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The 393 Youth Helpline National Contact Centre will be piloted in three districts in the Sadc region which are Francistown in Botswana, Zomba in Malawi and Zvishavane in Zimbabwe. It uses a multi-component layered “Youth Helpline” intervention that takes advantage of digital innovations and increased access to technology.
In his speech, NAC chief executive Dr Bernard Madzima said new infections in young girls and women were being fuelled by social isolation of young people, poverty and discriminatory cultural norms in society. “The 393 Youth Helpline comes at a time when NAC has just completed a study to map out existing call centres in the country. The 393 Youth Helpline by YAZ has been identified as the most functional and is operating with commendable standards,” he said.
Dr Madzima said documented evidence showed that young people fare disproportionately poorly across the HIV care continuum compared to other age groups.
He said the Youth Helpline is an innovative strategy encompassing multi component layered interventions combining mobile-based technology, multi-media campaigns, referral systems, strengthening community level outreach and psycho-social services on HIV and Aids knowledge and HIV services uptake among young people aged between 10-24. National HIV Prevention Coordinator within the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Mrs Gertrude Ncube, said the HIV epidemic now wears a young people’s face hence the need for such innovations as the helpline.
“This project is unique as it seeks to explore new ways to address areas where we have been struggling in our region as far as the HIV response is concerned by using M-Health. As you might be aware, in Sub-Saharan Africa, if you look at new infections, the epidemic now has a face of young people where we have got 74 percent of new infections coming from our adolescent girls and young women,” said Mrs Ncube. She said the new infections in young girls and women were being fuelled by social isolation of the young people, poverty and the discriminatory cultural norms in society.
“Orphanhood, as you know, is another biggest contributor. Most of our children were actually left orphaned when we lost many adults due to the Aids pandemic. We also have Gender Based Violence (GBV), which is happening in our country. As a country, we need to do a lot to curb GBV especially against young people,” said Mrs Ncube .
She said GBV has contributed to the increase in new HIV infections.
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