Matutu — THE National Aids Council has stepped up its HIV prevention programmes in Matabeleland South as it seeks to reduce HIV prevalence in the province, the highest in the country, from 18,23 percent to below 10 percent.
The national average is 10,4 percent.
HIV prevention models being implemented in the province include the sister-to-sister programme which seeks to reduce HIV prevalence among vulnerable adolescent girls and young women, and the peer-led model which targets artisanal miners; the key population model targets sex workers and the behaviour change community motivators' model targeting men.
In an interview yesterday, Matabeleland South provincial programmes officer for the council Mr Wilfred Ngwenya said the models are targeting hotspot districts.
"Of concern is that the prevalence is high in our province and the district which has the highest prevalence rate is Bulilima followed by Mangwe. One of the main reasons is that we have a lot of our people from these areas who are working in South Africa and Botswana," he said.
Some of the people working in the neighbouring countries hide their status and stop taking their medication.
"That's why our target is to ensure that we cover as much of our population as possible through our different models that target all age groups and population groups in our community," said Mr Ngwenya.
He said the models they are working on are expected to reduce new infections. "We have new cases that are coming up of young people who might not be so well informed on HIV-related issues and that's why we have embarked on the sister-to-sister programme so that we empower these young girls who are sexually active," he said.
Mr Ngwenya said the country had made significant progress in controlling the HIV pandemic but some pockets of the population were disproportionally affected. Adolescent girls and young women aged between 10 and 24 were six times more at risk of contracting the virus.
Mr Ngwenya said the peer-led model targeting artisanal miners sought to promote behaviour change among mine workers. Mining areas were characterised by high movement of panners that move from one area to another. These gold panners had disposable income which made them a target by sex workers.
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"This puts both artisanal miners and sex workers at risk of infection. The key population model seeks to empower sex workers with both resources and knowledge to protect themselves and their clients," he said
"The key population model is also targeting areas along the highways which include Beitbridge, Gwanda, Umzingwane and Plumtree."
Mr Ngwenya said a majority of men are reluctant to access HIV-related programmes hence the behaviour change community motivators' model where men disseminate HIV-related information to others. The programme includes visits to men in their homes and their places of gathering such as beer halls.
