PLAY YOUR PART H-METRO

ALL of us need to take part in the fight against HIV/Aids.

Experts may gather at International AIDS conferences to find ways to cut the many heads of the HIV hydra, how to prevent the 1.6 million deaths every year, how to ensure that no baby is born with HIV, how to bring the antiretroviral treatment to the 16 million who need it today and how to scale up efforts against HIV to capitalise on the remarkable progresses of the past two decades, but it is not up to those experts alone.

Aids is everyone’s problem and as Zimbabweans, we must do our part on a Zimbabwean level to defeat this deadly disease.

Whilst Zimbabwe has been commended for registering impressive progress in areas of HIV and Aids treatment and prevention with the majority of the 1,2 million HIV positive people on anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and the rate at which new cases are sprouting coming down, there is still a fair amount of work to be done to help people living with HIV.

Efforts by the country in the fight against HIV and Aids have seen the country record declines in HIV prevalence rate but there is need to include coming out in the open - which makes Aids look like any other disease - to further reduce Zimbabwe’s HIV prevalence rate.

With funding for HIV/Aids not always guaranteed, efforts must be put to ensure that the population knows how to avoid getting infected with HIV and how to avoid spreading the disease for those that have tested positive, without necessarily spending money.

The most dangerous group, however, are the people that are afraid to get tested.

The unfortunate thing is there are plenty of people who share this sentiment of not getting tested.

They believe in the adage that says; “What I do not know does not hurt me”.

Unfortunately they are very wrong.

Getting tested does not just mean you know if you are HIV positive or negative.

Through getting tested, one is taught how to avoid contracting the virus (if negative), how to live with the virus and how to avoid spreading the virus.

Through the counselling one goes through when they get tested, a whole nation can be educated about Aids as everyone is set to benefit.

Aids is a threat to the world and must be dealt with by the world as a united team. Our effort as Zimbabwe is part of that team work.

Right now as the world is haunted by the coronavirus, it is easy for people to forget the bigger pandemic called HIV/AIDS.

Whilst it is key that we find ways to prevent and avoid Covid19, the fact remains Aids still kills more people than Covid-19 and deserves our attention.