BULAWAYO, June 2 (NewsDay Live) — The National AIDS Council (NAC) has identified Old Magwegwe and Old Pumula as HIV hotspots in Bulawayo, citing socio-economic conditions linked to high population density and low-cost accommodation.
Speaking during a media tour at Silwane Youth Centre in Old Pumula, NAC Magwegwe district coordinator Kenneth Ncube said the organisation identified the suburbs through attendance registers, HIV testing programmes and community interventions.
“If you go to our registers, you will find that these are the areas with higher HIV prevalence. You can tell from the attendance registers who the people we are supporting are and where they are coming from,” Ncube said.
He said the findings were reinforced by ongoing HIV testing campaigns.
“We are testing people, we are getting HIV-positive cases, and they are coming from those areas. That directs us to say those are our hotspots,” he said.
Ncube said NAC initially targeted interventions in the identified hotspots before expanding programmes to other communities.
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“Those are the areas where we thought our interventions would have a stronger impact before we spread to other locations,” he said.
He stressed that the higher prevalence rates were not linked to the age of the suburbs but to prevailing socio-economic conditions.
“It has nothing to do with them being old locations. It is more about the higher population density and the kind of social conditions found there,” Ncube said.
“With higher population density comes cheaper accommodation, which attracts people facing economic challenges and greater vulnerability due to limited access to services.”
Ncube said the data enables NAC to direct resources and interventions to communities most affected by HIV, improving prevention, treatment and support services.
The media engagement formed part of efforts to strengthen public awareness and improve reporting on HIV-related programmes and interventions in Bulawayo.