Zim hailed for fight against HIV/Aids

PRESIDENT Mugabe has hailed the massive strides Zimbabwe has taken in its fight against HIV/Aids, especially in light of earlier losses the country suffered when the scourge was in its infancy.

The President said this when he addressed tens of thousands of people who had gathered in Matobo on Saturday for his 93rd birthday celebrations.

The Head of State and Government and Commanderin-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces said although the country had been lucky to escape the wrath of other devastating illnesses, it did not mean it was immune to other diseases that plague humanity.

“Even the air that we breathe, they say, is replete with viruses and germs of all sorts that harm the body. Also nowadays, there are diseases like HIV and Aids, which are transmitted from one person to another, including others that have not reached this part of the continent, like Ebola,” President Mugabe said.

According to the Global Aids Progress Report released last year, Zimbabwe’s HIV prevalence rate declined from 15,7 percent in 2011 to 13,8 percent in 2015.

This came on the back of various Government strategies which include adoption and implementation of the 2013 World Health Organisation guidelines on treatment and prevention, male circumcision, Tuberculosis/HIV collaborative treatment and prevention of mother to child HIV transmission.

“We were lucky. But we have a huge section of our population affected by HIV/Aids, and we lost the earlier part. We did not know what to do. We lost many of our young people,” said President Mugabe.

He also acknowledged the toll that the virus had on families, saying it had left many widows.

According to various reports by the National Aids Council, most men are still reluctant to get tested.

“We lost most of our young men and women, but mainly young men, and when one looks at various communities, it is the young men that are gone.”

“We have young widows who have been left behind. And these women seem to have some form of resistance, which the men do not have. Some are surviving on ARVs,” he said.

President Mugabe commended the Ministry of Health and Child Care for its efforts in combating the disease while also encouraging behavioural change from Zimbabweans at large.

“They run to the doctors, but, still, the viruses remain in the body because a cure has not yet been found. But we commend efforts by the Ministry of Health and Child Care and its partners in educating our young people to at least take precautions and abstain from premarital sex.

“However, more needs to be done in regard to our behaviour,” he said.