Eliezer Wangulu
24 December 2004
MANY communities in Zimbabwe and beyond are experiencing untold misery as a result of HIV and Aids. The pandemic has resulted in poverty and destitution on a large scale as it marches on to infect and affect more people.
Yet, the cure or vaccination remains elusive. Without a medical panacea, the power of information remains the hope for many, until a cure or vaccine is found. It is against this background that the Southern Africa HIV/Aids Information Dissemination Service (SAfAids) endeavours to provide timely, accurate and age-appropriate HIV and Aids information in southern Africa.
Founded in 1994, SAfAids has through its newsletters, toolkits, fact sheets, books, manuals, videos, TV and radio programmes reached thousands of people who require HIV and Aids information in the region. According to the organisation's executive director, Lois Lunga, her organisation seeks to harness state of the art information and communication technology to ensure that those in need of information in the region access it easily.
Lunga said: "We have an operational satellite resource centre in Namibia and will soon be opening another one in Zambia."
To scale up information dissemination in the region, SAfAids has embarked on an ambitious programme to set up satellite resource centres in southern Africa. Already, such a centre has been set up in Windhoek, Namibia, in collaboration with the Namibian Network of Aids Service Organisations (NANASO).
The satellite resource centres are modelled on the main resource centre based in Harare. The Harare centre offers an array of services including electronic and hard copy versions of documents for researchers and other general users.
The centre, which was launched recently, boasts of a video room where the facility's users can view many documentaries on HIV and Aids, Internet facilities for researching on world wide web (WWW) and a variety of materials in audio format. The satellite resource centres coordinator, Cecilia Mhiti, says the Harare resource centre is a mine of information for those yearning for HIV and Aids information and that the facility is user-friendly.
Mhiti says: "The resource centre is a one-stop shop for HIV and Aids information where all the available material is current, relevant to our target readers and is readily available because we use cutting edge information and communication technology."
Satellite resource centres are set to be the hubs of SAfAids activities in the region. For example, the organisation has been training journalists on effective coverage of HIV and Aids in the region. It is anticipated that trained journalist will make the resource centres their focal points which they can use as their meeting points and also use them to research their articles for their various media organisations.
Also, the resource centres in the region will be used to host discussion forums on key and topical issues on the pandemic. Currently, discussion forums are held on a quarterly basis in Harare whereby experts are invited to share the current developments in the area of HIV and Aids. SAfAids is eager to replicate this activity in the region. The last discussion forum was an opportunity for experts who attended the Bangkok 15 International HIV/Aids Conference to share their experiences with Zimbabweans who did not get an opportunity to go to Bangkok.
The use of the electronic media has been exploited by SAfAids to reach a wider audience in Zimbabwe and beyond. One of the organisation's main electronic media production is the Perspectives programme that is aired every Tuesday evening on ZTV. A joint venture between SAfAids and ZTV, Perspectives has paraded a number of prominent experts who have appeared as the programme's guests to talk and field questions on many topics around the pandemic.
The presenter of the programme, Tariro Makanga, believes Perspectives is making a difference in people's lives. She says: "The most gratifying thing is that we receive many telephone calls at SAfAids after the programme has gone on air. Many people call to get more information on the topic of the programme that has been aired. This is very encouraging because it shows us that viewers are benefiting from the programme."
Makanga invites constructive comments, both positive and negative on the programme saying it is through such feedback that the programme can be improved and serve the audience better.
Lunga believes providing relevant HIV and Aids information is a great challenge given the dynamism of the pandemic. With greater international focus on improving access and reducing the costs of HIV treatment, many countries in southern Africa began the process of scaling up anti-retroviral (ARVs) distribution.
"This has placed a spotlight on the need for more information related to human rights, treatment and health policies," she says. Undaunted, Lunga believes the 10-year-old SAfAids has what it takes to rise to the challenge of providing accurate and timely information on HIV and Aids in the region.
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