Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Zimbabwe
only in Zimbabwe are there signs that the government is winning the battle to
curtail the spread of the disease. In 2007, using the epidemic Projection package and
Spectrum software, the HIv prevalence rate was estimated to be around 15.6 percent,
following a gradual decline from the 2001 figure of 26.5 percent (Zimbabwe National
Monitoring and evaluation taskforce 2008, 4). 3 evidence from the government's
surveillance system shows that HIv prevalence among pregnant mothers, one of the
most vulnerable groups in the country, has declined to 17.7 percent in 2006, down
from 25.8 percent in 2004 (4). Studies from local nongovernmental organisations
(nGos) working with HIv-positive patients have categorically supported these
findings. In Harare, HIV prevalence in women attending antenatal clinics dropped
from 26 percent in 2002 to 18 percent in 2006 (10). This decline was also reflected
in declines among men and women, aged 15 to 49, particularly in the rural areas
(Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and child welfare 2007). of particular importance
is the fact that national statistics show a decline in HIv prevalence among young
women aged 15 to 24 from 21 percent in 2000 to 13 percent over the same period.
other studies show similar developments among male factory workers in Harare and
among antenatal women in other urban areas.
Government officials contend that changes in sexual behaviour, consistent usage
of condoms, and the successful national aIDS coordination Programme (nacP)
have contributed to these declines. according to national surveys, condom usage
among sexually active partners has reached record levels of 83 percent among women
and 86 percent among men (Mahomva 2004). there is further research indicating that
Zimbabweans aged 15 to 49 are having fewer sexual partners on average (Mahomva
2004). Studies show that changes in sexual behaviour have led to mortality rates
levelling off in some parts of the country, particularly in rural areas, leading to a decline
in HIv prevalence rates (see UnaIDS 2005a; Mahomva et al. 2006; Mugurungi et
al. 2007; Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and child welfare 2007). Meanwhile, the
NACP was widely credited as advancing a sound policy to address the crisis. Officials
are quick to point out that they were slow to respond to the crisis during the late
1980s when the first cases of AIDS were reported. During this period, discussion of
HIv/aIDS was minimal and the country's president, robert Mugabe, rarely
discussed the subject in public. It remained a taboo subject for many Zimbabweans
until the mid 1990s.
even though the nacP was established in 1987, it was not until 1999 that the
country's first HIV and AIDS policy was announced. In 2000, the government
began implementing that policy through the newly formed national aIDS council,
which replaced the outdated nacP. Since then, the government has introduced an
aIDS levy on all tax payers to pay for the work of the council. Proponents of the
nacP and the council credit them with helping to promote safe sex education and
counselling for HIv-positive patients through state-sponsored media broadcasts on
state television and radio and in public clinics and hospitals. beginning in 2006, the
government launched the national behaviour change Strategy for 2006 to 2010
 
 
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