Category: HIV/AIDS

Woman Infected With HIV By Her Boyfriend

Healthtimes

In this era of Mjolo (Casual sex and dating), a lot is at stake. The risk perception for HIV, especially in the the young generation at times known as Ama 2k, has greatly declined simply because people are no longer dying of AIDS as was the case two decades ago. By Nthokozo Gudu A number of factors at play expose the young generation especially young adolescent girls and young women to the risk of contracting HIV. According to UNAIDS, in Sub Saharan Africa, HIV now wears a young girls and…

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Rising HIV treatment failure in Zimbabwe: A stitch in time could save nine

Healthtimes

“Veld fires start from glowing ash: The numbers dismissed today as small,  can offset the gains made in the national HIV response in the near future.” By Catherine Murombedzi (Internews Health Journalism Network, Mercury Phoenix Trust HIV/AIDS 2023 Fellowship) ZIMBABWE should set aside domestic financial resources to deal with the rising number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) resistant to the treatment of first resort, commonly known as the first line treatment. Donors do not fund second and third line treatment drugs, making this a key health priority for the…

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New WHO guidance on HIV viral suppression and scientific updates released at IAS 2023

Michael Gwarisa

BRISBANE, 23 July 2023 – The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing new scientific and normative guidance on HIV at the 12th International IAS (the International AIDS Society) Conference on HIV Science. New WHO guidance and an accompanying Lancet systematic review released today describe the role of HIV viral suppression and undetectable levels of virus in both improving individual health and halting onward HIV transmission. The guidance describes key HIV viral load thresholds and the approaches to measure levels of virus against these thresholds; for example, people living with HIV…

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We can end AIDS, if we follow the proven path of progress

Healthtimes

By Sophia Mukasa Monico – UNAIDS Country Director, Zimbabwe The recently released UNAIDS Global AIDS Update Report “shows that there is a path that ends AIDS. Taking the path that ends AIDS ensures preparedness to address future pandemic challenges, and advance progress across the Sustainable Development Goals.  The data and real-world examples set out in this report make it clear what that path is. It is not a mystery. It is a political and financial choice. HIV responses succeed when they are anchored in strong political leadership to follow the…

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‘Low HIV viral load suppression in Zim pediatrics’

Kuda Pembere

THE 2023 UNAIDS Global AIDS Update shows Zimbabwe performing exceptionally well in the 95-95-95 targets amongst adults, but much needs to be done regarding children under 15 as 69 percent of these children knew their status with 69 percent being initiated on ART while 59 percent had their viral load suppressed in 2022. By Kudakwashe Pembere This sluggish progress for children was attributed to the fact that children are largely dependent on their adult caregivers. In 2022, Zimbabwean women surpassed the 95-95-95 targets recording 98–97–95 compared to Zimbabwean men who…

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Robin Gorna Appointed Frontline AIDS Substantive Executive Director

Healthtimes

Frontline AIDS has appointed Ms Robin Gorna its new Executive Director. By Staff Reporter Robin Gorna brings substantial leadership experience to Frontline AIDS, having been Executive Director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, the International AIDS Society, and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. She is currently Vice-Chair of the Technical Review Panel for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Robin’s work as an AIDS activist, a writer and a leader began in the mid-1980s, when she volunteered with UK community groups, the Terrence…

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CATALYST HIV Research Study Launched In Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

THE Maximizing Options to Advance Informed Choice for HIV Prevention (MOSAIC) consortium, has launched CATALYST, a research study that evaluates delivery of HIV prevention methods in women and girls at greater risk oF new HIV infections. By Michael Gwarisa The three-year, multi-country implementation study builds on decades of research related to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention and is aimed at assessing the delivery of multiple PrEP methods to women in real-world settings in five African countries, including Zimbabwe. The study will deliver choice among three PrEP methods — daily…

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CeSSHAR, NAC empower Beitbridge sex workers

Kuda Pembere

Donning a baby-blue t-shirt, is a bespectacled bubbly 55 year old woman feeling young enough to compete with the ama2000 who are plying the sex work trade, the oldest profession in the world. By Kuda Pembere recently in Beitbridge Widowed, left a pauper with four children, the tinted short-haired Winnie Phiri was advised by a neighbour to venture into sex work as a way out of poverty. As a sex worker, she thought unprotected sex would please her clients as she did her husband. Coupled with the gang-rape, Winnie was…

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NAC sponsored goat project helps feed Gwanda Prison inmates

Kuda Pembere

A goat rearing project at the Gwanda Prison Farm in the Maphane area, sponsored by the National AIDS Council(NAC), is proving to be a force to reckon with as the project has grown to the extent of being expanded into prisons and correctional facilities. By Kudakwashe Pembere recently in Gwanda The goat-rearing project commenced in 2015 following a donation by NAC of 83 goats to the prison. Over the years, the project at the prison now has a herd of about 204 and cumulatively the Matebeleland South province now boasts…

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NAC’s HIV response efforts pay off for Mat South

Kuda Pembere

THE HIV response in Matebeleland South has been improving dropping the prevalence and incidence rates in the province owing to consistent massive campaigns by the National AIDS Council (NAC) over the past 11 years. By Kuda Pembere recently in Gwanda This was said by the former NAC Mat South Provincial Manager Mr Isaia Abureni during a media tour around his province organised by the organization. Despite the province ranking the highest in terms of HIV prevalence in the country in most of the years, its incidence dropped by more than…

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