Harare — Zimbabwe's success in the fight against HIV and Aids should give it an impetus to continue developing comprehensive policies and frameworks that mitigate the effects of the pandemic particularly among the youth, Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Stan Mudenge said yesterday.

Minister Mudenge said there was need to change social and cultural practices that rendered young people susceptible to the disease.

He was speaking at the launch of HIV and Aids Facilitators, Teachers and Teacher Educator's Manual and HIV and Aids Workplace Policy in Harare.

The ministry, he said, as a provider of manpower needed to fully prepare teachers for their critical roles of guiding young people for responsible citizenship and dealing with the HIV and Aids pandemic.

"There can be no room for complacency when it comes to HIV and Aids it is imperative that strong action be taken, particularly through massively expanded and intensified prevention efforts alongside activities to expand access to treatment, care and support," he said.

"To prevent the spread of HIV and Aids we have to educate our students and society at large on how to prevent infection. We have to change the social and cultural practices that render the young to be susceptible to the disease."

The ministry's workplace policy promotes a culture of caring and compassion necessary to encourage openness, consistency and equity in dealing with epidemic.

It is also a multi-sectoral response to HIV and Aids pandemic while the manual is a participatory learning and teaching tool for use by at teachers' college and other institutions of higher learning. Minister Mudenge said education was important in overcoming conditions that facilitate the spread of HIV and creating understanding and tolerance that is critical in reducing stigma and discrimination against marginalised communities and People Living With HIV and Aids.

"Lack of basic education gives women and children an inferior status in the community rendering them increasingly and disproportionately affected by Aids. There is, therefore, merit in targeting young people in school settings hence the need to ensure teachers are well prepared to handle this special task,' he said.

UNESCO country director Dr Soo Hyang Choi said her organisation believed the policy for educators would provide action to reduce the spread of HIV and Aids and help manage its impact in tertiary institutions.

"UNESCO plans in due course to work with the ministry in revising the tertiary curriculum to ensure HIV and Aids aspects are adequately integrated in the country's education system," she said.