Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
THE National Aids Council (NAC) has stepped up its HIV prevention programmes in Matabeleland South as it seeks to reduce HIV prevalence in the province from 18,23 percent to below 10 percent.
The province has the highest HIV prevalence rate as the national prevalence rate is 10,4 percent.
HIV prevention models being implemented in the province include the Sister to Sister Programme, which seeks to reduce HIV prevalence among vulnerable adolescent girls and young women and the peer-led model, which targets artisanal miners.
The province is also running with the key population model, which targets sex work and the behaviour change community motivators’ model targeting men.
In an interview yesterday, NAC Matabeleland South provincial programmes officer, Mr Wilfred Ngwenya said the models are targeting hotspot districts and areas within hotspot districts.
“Of concern is that the prevalence is high in our province and the district, which has the highest prevalence rate is Bulilima followed by Mangwe. One of the main reasons is that we have a lot of our people from these areas who are working in South Africa and Botswana,” he said.
He said some of the people working in the neighbouring countries hide their status and stop taking their medication.
“That’s why our target is to ensure that we cover as much of our population as possible through our different models that target all age groups and population groups in our community,” said Mr Ngwenya.
He said the models they are working on are expected to reduce new infections.
“We have new cases that are coming up, of young people who might not be so well informed on HIV-related issues and that’s why we have embarked on the Sister to Sister Programme so that we empower these young girls who are sexually active,” he said.
Mr Ngwenya said the country had made significant progress in controlling the HIV pandemic, but some pockets of the population are disproportionally affected. He said adolescent girls and young women aged between 10 and 24 are six times more at risk of contracting the virus.
Mr Ngwenya said the peer-led model, which is targeting artisanal miners seeks to promote behaviour change among mine workers.
He said mining areas are characterised by high movement of panners that move from one area to the other.
Mr Ngwenya said gold panners have disposable income, which makes them prone to being targeted by sex workers.
“This puts both artisanal miners and sex workers at risk of infection. The key population model seeks to empower sex workers with both resources and knowledge to protect themselves and their clients,” he said
“The key population model is also targeting areas along the highway, which include Beitbridge, Gwanda, Umzingwane and Plumtree.”
Mr Ngwenya said a majority of men are reluctant to access HIV-related programmes hence the behaviour change community motivators’ model where men disseminate HIV-related information to others.
The programme includes visitations to men in their homes and their places of gathering such as beer halls.
“As a province, we are gradually going down in terms of new infections but it’s an uphill task. The national prevalence is at 10,4 percent while ours is 18,23,” said Mr Ngwenya.
“Our target is to reduce our prevalence rate to a single digit, which is below 10 percent. Through these models, we hope to meet our target.” —@DubeMatutu
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