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Epworth community.
The man saw his health deteriorate over years, but it never crossed his mind that he could be HIV-positive.
He got so ill that he relied on family support.
Today, he looks much better.
You cannot tell that he is HIV-positive unless he tells you.
He is now a peer educator.
By opening up, he has saved members of his family and the community.
Stigma is a thing of the past in the community as residents are encouraged to know their HIV status.
The community has seen death and cannot afford to give it a chance anymore as death due to a compromised immune system can be avoided.
Freight says it is easier when a community member speaks out as this breaks barriers to seeking access.
He dedicates his life to saving many in his community as he spreads the story of hope, life and positive living.
He is a common figure in the area and signifies life.
Those who are scared to take an HIV test now know that there is nothing to fear.
With people like Freight speaking openly at schools, functions, weddings and even funerals, the social barriers continue to melt.
If Freight “rose from the grave”, those who are ill today can be saved too, if they seek help on time.
The Epworth community has embraced positive living and this was seen by the hundreds, patients and healthy people who came out to witness the opening of the Overspill Clinic last Friday.
Freight is among 3 000 patients on active ART who have been transferred from Dombo Polyclinic to Overspill Clinic recently. A total of 6 000 are now receiving ART at the new clinic because it is nearer their homes.
“I had been ill for some time and still did not believe that I could be HIV positive,” said Freight.
Currently, 12 864 patients are under HIV treatment in Epworth, 9 306 of whom receive anti-retroviral medication.
In addition, 623 patients are being treated for tuberculosis.
Freight recalls a community that had been badly scared by the HIV pandemic and death had become part of their lives.
“I am grateful that this clinic is going to save lives, I was brought to the poly clinic at Dombo three years ago while bed-ridden. I was ferried in a wheelbarrow and faced death like many others and I am living testimony that the project has saved lives,” said Freight.
He said this at the official opening of the Epworth Overspill Clinic last week.
The clinic, which was officially opened by Health and Child Welfare Minister Henry Madzorera was built by Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) Holland and was handed over to the Ministry of Health and
Child Welfare by the head of mission Mr Paul Foreman.
Mr Foreman said the clinic was a donation to the Ministry of Health and the Epworth Local Board.
MSF would take care of drug supplies and staffing needs until the authority is able to takeover.
MSF has been working in Zimbabwe since 2000.
“This clinic is a donation to the Ministry and the Local Board and we will see to staffing and drug supply until a time the authority is able to take over,” he said.
“Not so long ago HIV was a death sentence and taboo. Now in MSF we broke the line 10 years ago when we made provision of medicine in resource-poor areas.
“It’s taboo because it’s mostly sexually transmitted, there is need to break the taboo and stigma. Because treatment is available we support positive living, destigmatise HIV,” he said.
Mr Foreman said they did not run an HIV programme, but a health programme.
“We do not run an HIV clinic, we run a health programme. We don’t see HIV sufferers, we see patients. This isn’t an HIV clinic here at Overspill, it’s a health clinic,” he reiterated.
Mr Foreman said MSF would spend US$25 million in Zimbabwe in 2011 most of which goes to TB and HIV treatment.
“Today we have projects across Zimbabwe – we are supporting treatment in six provinces of more than 42 000 HIV-positive patients. As an orgnisation of doctors, we firmly believe that access to treatment is a right,” he added.
“So our aim is to work in an integrated fashion with the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare – with HIV services integrated into health clinics across Zimbabwe – to deliver life-preserving treatment.”
Dr Madzorera said the clinic was a health facility and called for behavioural change to overcome HIV.
“This is not an HIV clinic, it is a health clinic. If you get a dog bite come here, it’s an integrated clinic,” he said.
The project will create 40 new staff positions for the ministry of health and these will be trained by MSF.
Construction of the clinic started last year and was completed in May this year.
The therapeutic feeding centre was the first unit to be opened.
Dr Madzorera urged the Government to move with speed in training nurses to handle ART treatment and counselling.
“We have to manage task sharing, we have to move forward with speed and train nurses to initiate ARVs, every clinic, every village to be able to handle HIV treatment and counselling,” he said.
“This is not a difficult area and doctors should not hold onto it. We need to decentralise and that way move forward,” he said.
Provincial Medical Director for Mashonaland East Province Dr Simukai Zizhou urged men in the community to support their spouses and also visit the health facilities.
Even at this event there were more women and children than men.
“About 65 percent of people on ART in Epworth are women, only 35 percent are men and children, so men where are you?” asked Dr Zizhou.
In July, 990 patients awaited initiation on ART and by August 1 000 had been placed on the life-saving drugs.
The area has a population of 300 000 and has only three clinics.
The board is appealing for an ambulance and district hospital to save the commu- nity.
Land for a district hospital has already been set aside across the Overspill Clinic.
As a collective effort, HIV becomes manageable and a healthy workforce takes the country forward.
Online Reporter