THE National Aids Council (NAC) has disbursed $500 000 from the Aids levy to Masvingo province to help in the fight against HIV and Aids.
TATENDA CHITAGU OWN CORRESPONDENT
NAC provincial Aids coordinator for Masvingo, Evos Makoni, confirmed the development and said the money would cover all the eight districts in the province.
“We received half a million dollars from our head office from the Aids levy targeted specifically for Masvingo. The money is for HIV prevention activities like prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTC), HIV prevention at workplaces targeting SMEs, among others,” Makoni said.
He said NAC Masvingo would target high volume sexually transmitted infections (STI) areas like growth points and highway shopping centres.
“We have red spots when it comes to STIs and we have crafted specific programmes for those areas where we need to see change. We will also avail anti-retroviral therapy services like testing and treatment. No one should die because of lack of treatment.Other peripheral issues that we will also cover include gender-based violence as you know that it is a harbinger of HIV and Aids,” Makoni said.
Masvingo last year recorded the highest number of STIs countrywide, prompting alarm from the health authorities.
Zimbabwe has also committed itself to attaining the Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality and combating HIV and Aids as well as other diseases by 2015, but the target now seems elusive.
