Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
SHURUGWI is the new HIV and Aids infection hotspot in Midlands province with sex workers and artisanal miners fuelling the increasing number of cases, according to the National Aids Council (Nac).
Some artisanal miners demand unprotected sex and offer sex workers as much as US$40 instead of US$20 charged when one is using protection.
With the country’s HIV infections going down to around 12 percent from a high of 15 percent, stakeholders in the fight against new infections are worried by the trend in the heart of the Great Dyke.
In an interview, Nac Midlands province manager Mr Mambewu Shumba said the increase in new infections is mainly registered in areas where there are mining activities.
He said the increase in artisanal mining and mining companies is attracting sex workers who have been flooding Shurugwi town.
“The mining town of Shurugwi is Midlands Province’s new HIV and Aids infection hotspot as commercial sex workers flood Shurugwi town. There is a lot of mining taking place in Shurugwi which has resulted in commercial sex workers flooding the district,’ said Mr Shumba.
He said the country is continuing to move in a relatively positive trajectory in fighting new HIV and Aids transmissions.
“We have realised that most new infections are within the commercial sex workers who are contributing around 50 percent of such infections.
“It’s a worrying trend. We have been trying to reach out to communities with high rates of infections. To that end, we have trained 40 nurses and sensitised 195 other health workers for that cause,” said Mr Mambewu.
A Shurugwi-based commercial sex worker who spoke on condition of anonymity said they have been flocking to Shurugwi since there are many artisanal miners working in the town.
“We follow the money my brother, I have been to Mberengwa, Kwekwe, Mazowe in Mashonaland Central following these artisanal miners. Right now, they are concentrated in Shurugwi because we hear a lot of gold claims have been opened and so this is where the money is,” she said.
She said her line of work is faced with a myriad of challenges such as being forced to have unprotected sex with a client just to put food on the table.
“It’s a risky job but sometimes we just have to do what we have to do in order to put food on the table. We sometimes meet some very rich clients also known as mbinga who offer too much money for someone for unprotected sex and it becomes too difficult to resist. We also have some violent clients who threaten you with machetes if you resist unprotected sex. This is why most of us end up being infected by HIV and Aids,” she said.
Another sex worker from Gweru said they charge US$10 for short time engagements and US$20 for the whole night.
“The challenge arises when the artisanal miner, loaded with cash demands unprotected sex and offers me US$40. I will obviously take the money and that exposes a lot of us,” she said.
In 2020 Zimbabwe reached the 90–90–90 targets set by UNAIDS for 2020 where 90 percent of people now know their HIV status, 90 percent of those diagnosed with HIV are on antiretroviral treatment, and 90 percent of those receiving treatment are achieving viral suppression.
The country is now working towards the 95–95–95 targets for 2025.
Online Reporter