Muchaneta Chimuka
ZIMBABWE and Mozambique are deepening cooperation on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, with a peer-to-peer exchange programme providing a platform for the two countries to share policy and implementation experiences aimed at reducing teenage pregnancies and improving young people’s access to healthcare.
The collaboration emerged during a meeting in Harare on Monday between officials from Mozambique’s National Health Institute and Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care.
The Mozambican delegation is in Zimbabwe for a four-day benchmarking visit to assess the country’s progress in providing adolescent sexual and reproductive health services in high schools and institutions of higher learning.
The programme is being spearheaded by the Public Health Agency of Sweden.
During the visit, the delegation is also expected to tour selected health institutions to gain insights into Zimbabwe’s policies, implementation strategies and remaining gaps in adolescent healthcare.
National Health Institute health researcher Dr Joelma Baduro said the delegation was keen to learn from Zimbabwe’s experience, from policy formulation and implementation to treatment.
“We will be taking lessons on how Zimbabwe has done in adolescent sexual and reproductive health, from policies to implementation and treatment, so that we can close the gaps in Mozambique and fine-tune our own policies,” she said.
National HIV Prevention Coordinator in the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s AIDS and TB Programme, Mrs Getrude Ncube, said Zimbabwe was making significant strides in promoting adolescent sexual and reproductive health despite some challenges.
“Adolescents means people between the ages of 10–19, with young people aged 15 – 24,” Mrs Ncube said.
“According to the Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey 2023–24, early sexual activity increases the likelihood of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases among young women (15-24 years): 5 percent had their first sexual encounter before 15 years, and 43 percent had sex before 18 years. Among young men (15-24 years): 3 percent had sex before 15 years and 30 percent had sex before 18 years,” she said.
She said, 1, 3 million people in Zimbabwe are living with HIV, and among them 63 847 are
children aged 0–14; hence, the HIV prevalence in adults stands at 10.5 percent, while 0.91 percent are new infections per 1 000 and uninfected (target 0.75), and 17 100 AIDS-related deaths, down from 23 970 in 2019, and 6,5 percent mother-to-child transmission (target below 5 percent).
She said, Zimbabwe rallies behind the 95-95-95 UNAIDS targets of ending the AIDS epidemic as a public threat.
“Each number represents a 95 percent milestone in the HIV treatment cascade that is to make sure that 95 percent of all people living with HIV know their status, 95 percent of people diagnosed with HIV infection receive sustained antiretroviral therapy, and 95 percent of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy achieve viral suppression to the extent of having a very low or undetectable amount of virus in their blood,” she said,
“This keeps them healthy and prevents transmission (U equals to U); however, there is still a gap since young people have not been reached.
“One in four young people between 15 – 24 years of age do not know their HIV status and 81 percent of young people are on anti–retroviral drugs, while adults have surpassed the target and are at 96 percent.
“Once diagnosed young people start ART are at 95 percent while the adult population is at 97 percent.”
Mrs Ncube said they are working with various partners such as Sista2Sista, CAMFED, UNICEF, among others to do school-based HIV and violence prevention; community mobilisation and gender-norms change with boys and men.
“We want to sustain financing and ring fence adolescent services in domestic budgets, integrate HIV into primary care and school health,” she said.
“We have to cut teen pregnancies by keeping girls in schools and deliver wider youth-friendly contraception, including long-acting methods and to close the treatment gap.”
Ministry of Health and Child Care Chief Director for Public Health Dr Celestino Dhege said Zimbabwe’s measures to address teenage pregnancies had contributed to a decline in prevalence, while policies allowing pregnant learners and young mothers to continue their education had helped protect their right to education.
“Zimbabwe has done well, especially in curbing teenage pregnancies, as this has seen the prevalence rate go down to 15 percent,” he said.
“The policy allowing those who would have fallen pregnant to go back to school or continue during pregnancy has also allowed young mothers to write their examinations and further their education.”
The exchange is part of a programme launched in 2022 and spearheaded by the Public Health Agency of Sweden, which is expected to run until 2028.
Public Health Agency of Sweden programme manager Dr Annmarie Wesley said the initiative was using peer-to-peer exchange and technical collaboration to strengthen evidence-based public health strategies.
She said the programme focuses on evidence-informed decision-making, capacity building and strengthening health systems, while addressing vulnerabilities faced by adolescents and young women, including unintended pregnancies and gender-based violence.
The peer-to-peer exchange programme is being implemented in six SADC countries and seeks to strengthen health institutions’ capacity to use reliable health data to develop, monitor and improve adolescent-friendly health policies and services.
Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Christopher Magomo handed over 34 Samsung tablets on behalf of President Mnangagwa.
Minister Magomo urged the beneficiaries to protect the devices and use them to learn, innovate, advocate and serve.
The initiative comes as the Government continues its efforts to bridge the digital divide and ensure that young people, including those in rural communities, have access to technology that supports education and participation in national development.
