STI cases decline in Midlands

CASES of sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) have declined by about 47 percent in the Midlands Province in the past four years, from 28 000 to about 15 000.

Ministry of Health and Child Care Provincial Maternal and Child Health Officer, Dr Tshebukani Moyo said it was pleasing to note the decrease which he attributed to increased HIV and Aids awareness programmes in the province.

“We are happy to report that STI cases have gone down in the past three years in the province. In 2013 we reported about 28 000 STI cases which decreased to 23 000 in 2015 before going down to about 15 000 last year,” he said in Kwekwe recently. Dr Moyo said STI cases were linked to HIV. He said apart from recording successes in the reduction STI cases, the province has also witnessed an increase in HIV counselling and testing between 2013 and 2016 with 260 000 people undergoing the process.

“We had an estimated 160 000 adults living with HIV in 2015 and of those, we have above 140 000 on ART which translates to 71,6 percent access to treatment rate,” said Dr Moyo.

“In terms of covering children on ART, we have about 10 400 below the age of 15 who are HIV positive and 7 810 have been initiated on ART as of the end of September. This translates to 74,6 percent and we hope that with the new guidelines, more people will be initiated on ART,” he said.

The new national guidelines stipulate that a person has to be put on ART as soon as they test HIV positive.

The country continues to make tremendous progress in the fight against HIV and Aids amid indications that new infections among the 15-49 age group have dropped to five per 1 000 people in 2016 from 50 per 1000 people in 1994.

At the same time Aids related deaths have declined by 77 percent in the last decade as the country moves towards ending Aids by 2030. — @pchitumba1