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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
GOOD programming and support for HIV programmes in Matabeleland South has seen the prevalence rate of HIV in the province declining from 22,3 percent to 19,43 percent.
In his keynote address during the Zimbabwe Population Based HIV Impact Assessment (ZIMPHIA) Matabeleland South provincial sensitisation meeting in Gwanda on Wednesday, Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs Minister, Cde Abednico Ncube said while the province has the highest HIV prevalence rate, it was pleasing that it was going down.
The Minister said there is a need to constantly evaluate HIV programmes to ensure that they produce intended goals and have a significant impact in communities.
“Government and its partners have rolled out numerous programmes to address the issue of HIV and Aids. We need to continue to scale up our innovations and best practices to ensure that we are reaching all the key and vulnerable populations that are at high risk. We should ensure that we provide relevant HIV services and products,” he said.
“I’m quite optimistic that this programme will help us as a province and policy makers to have a better understanding of the overall impact of HIV on the entire population. We highly recognise the importance of this survey and I appeal to community leaders and communities to support it.’’
Speaking during the same meeting, Matabeleland South Provincial Medical Director, Dr Rudo Chikodzore said results of the survey will help measure the impact of HIV and determine the adequacy of the collective response efforts. She said Matabeleland South Province is stepping up efforts to end Aids by 2030.
National Aids Council (Nac) acting chief executive officer, Mr Amon Mpofu said the goal of ZIMPHIA in 2020 was to examine the distribution of the HIV epidemic and assess the coverage and impact of HIV services.
He said it will also measure HIV-related risk behaviours using a nationally representative sample.
“ZIMPHIA 2020 will estimate HIV incidence, prevalence and viral load suppression among adults and young people aged 15 years and older. It will help measure Zimbabwe’s progress towards UNAids 90-90-90 goals and guide policy and HIV funding priorities,” he said.
‘’The survey provides HIV testing services at your door step and at the same time with the aim of improving knowledge on access to services.
“The survey will help us gauge progress made so far with the innovative HIV testing modalities. It will enable the country to come up with effective strategies that will enable us to reach an epidemic control phase. We are therefore calling for your active participation in this exercise so that the implementing partner will get access to communities and collect necessary data required for the country to document progress towards fast track targets.’’
Mr Mpofu said the survey will also help the country to document its achievements in the HIV response and help inform improvements. He said it will also help improve health services in the country.
This is the country’s second Population Based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA) after the first that was held in 2015/2016.
The exercise is a population-based household survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Child Care working in collaboration with Zimstat, Nac, and ICAP. It is supported by the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) through the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).—@DubeMatutu
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