Chronicle EditorObert Chifamba Eastern Edition
Over 70 percent of people in Nyanga District have undergone voluntary testing for HIV, mostly during social or political gatherings, Nyanga District Aids coordinator Mr Lawrence Munyama has said. In an interview with The Herald Eastern Edition on the sidelines of a provincial Command Agriculture wheat field day held at Nyatsanza Irrigation Scheme in Hwesa area of Ward 4, Nyanga North, Mr Munyama said 83 people had voluntarily come forward to be tested during the field day.
“The National AIDS Council (NAC) has realised that social events such as this one, Independence Day celebrations, Heroes Day celebrations or even sports attract sizeable crowds of people, so we come equipped to take care of those that normally do not find time off their busy schedules to come for testing,” he said.
“This district has a population of around 135 000 people, the bulk of whom fall between the ages of 14 and 49 and these are the groups that normally make the big numbers at most social events too. These are the people that are mostly interested in wellness health matters.”
Mr Munyama said it was encouraging that people in the district were taking heed of teachings by NAC, HelpAge, village health workers and many other organisations to get tested so that they knew their statuses in time.
He cited mobility challenges on the part of the various development partners involved in the coordination process as the biggest undoing to the momentum the programme had gained in the recent past.
“The Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision coordinators do not have reliable transport for the programme,” said Mr Munyama. “As NAC, we only fund them to carry out the activities, but have no clear solution to their mobility challenges.”
The other worrisome development he cited was the high prevalence of people seeking treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (STIs), which he said could reverse the gains made so far or even puncture the confidence of many people willing to go for voluntary testing.
“We have a problem with people in a relationship or marriages going individually for treatment of STIs without the other, which leaves room for re-infection of the treated partner,” said Mr Munyama.
“In most cases, men have been reluctant to come forward and be treated for STIs even when their female partners would have sought and received treatment.”
Despite the widespread distribution of condoms they have undertaken in the province, Mr Munyama said it was fast becoming apparent that people were either not using them consistently or were doing so incorrectly, hence they were failing to protect themselves from STIs.
The district has a high prevalence of STIs such as gonorrhea and syphilis.
On the other hand, the district also still has high cases of home child deliveries, which Mr Munyama believes could be a result of the presence of many traditional mid-wives in the communities or challenges of getting to hospitals or clinics on the part of expecting mothers.
“Home deliveries are also dealing a serious blow to efforts of curbing mother-to-child-transmission of HIV in the event that the mother is positive,” said Mr Munyama. “This is something that can be dealt with successfully by medical professionals.”
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