Zim To Eradicate AIDS Fatalities By 2030

By Hamu Madzedze

Zimbabwe is working towards ending AIDS by 2030 after rolling out an accessible AIDS road map to the populace.

Addressing journalists in Chinhoyi at an HIV media workshop organised by the National AIDS Council, the Director in the AIDS and TB Unit under the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Owen Mugurungi said the country is still on course to achieve its set target of ending AIDS by 2030

" The country's HIV programming is inclusive of everyone despite gender, sex, age, or sexual orientation so that no one is left out in the country's bid to end AIDS by 2030," he said.

The AIDS and TB unit director added that they are also scaling up HIV self-testing so that people can undertake HIV testing in their private space. Dr Mugurungi pointed out that those who will have self-tested and come out HIV positive will immediately be placed on treatment.

He said patients are now being given a three-month supply of their antiretroviral treatment in order to reduce the burden of patients visiting health institutions every month.

"It's only a matter of time when patients on ART will begin accessing a six-month supply of their drugs and this will see patients coming to health institutions twice a year," he said.

Meanwhile national coordinator for PMTCT and Pediatric HIV care and treatment coordinator in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Angela Mushavi said the ministry is working towards eliminating mother-to-child transmission of Syphilis.

Dr Mushavi said pregnant women are being tested for Syphilis at antenatal clinics so that those who test positive for the disease will be treated using Penicillin to avoid the spread of Syphilis to the baby.

However, Dr Mushavi expressed concern over the low number of children on pediatric ART, highlighting some of the reasons being that caregivers and parents were not bringing children for HIV testing and also that health workers are skeptical about initiating pediatric ART to children.

1.3 million people are living with HIV in Zimbabwe and the country managed to reduce new HIV infections by 50 percent in 2020, which makes its target to eradicate the disease by 2030 achievable.