THE Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda has commended community and Village health workers for their pivotal role in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Speaking at an HIV/AIDS sensitisation workshop for Parliamentarians recently, Mudenda applauded these workers for helping Zimbabwe record a 70% decline in new infections across all populations as reported by the health ministry.
"Community health workers have played a pivotal role in demystifying HIV, promoting voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), providing treatment adherence support and acting as a bridge between the healthcare system and the community.
"Without them, many of the most vulnerable populations would have been left behind," he said.
The speaker said it was not easy to achieve set targets without an effective health system in place.
"At the heart of this health response was the robust primary healthcare system which has been the cornerstone of delivering HIV-related services to communities across the country.
"It is through this network of clinics, health centres, and importantly, Community and Village Health Workers that have been able to expand access to HIV testing, treatment and care.
"These workers are the frontline soldiers for many Zimbabweans seeking healthcare delivery, particularly in rural areas where access to medical facilities is constrained," added Mudenda.
However, he bemoaned the brain drain as Zimbabwe continues to lose a highly skilled workforce to greener pastures.
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"Despite the workers' critical role, we are faced with the worrying challenge of high staff attrition rates among healthcare professionals.
"Nurses, doctors and community health workers are increasingly leaving the country in search of the perceived greener pastures. As a result, there is a deficit of 16 000 Village Health Workers against a national target of 30,000.
"Additionally, according to the Zimbabwe Health Workforce Investment Compact, (2024 - 2026), Zimbabwe faces a need-based shortage of 57,573 health professionals and specialists."
Mudenda stated this attrition threatens the sustainability of the HIV programmes and other related healthcare imperatives.
The Speaker said it was encouraging that President Emmerson Mnangagwa was putting in place effective skills retention measures to contain the situation.
"As such, health personnel that continue to shoulder on must be celebrated for their dedicated patriotism."
Zimbabwe has made significant progress in achieving the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 95-95-95 targets.
These targets aim to ensure that 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95% of those diagnosed with HIV are on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and 95% of those on ART achieve viral suppression.
He said, "Zimbabwe must be applauded for exceeding these targets ahead of the global target year of 2030."
Approximately, Zimbabwe has 1.3 million people living with HIV (MoHCC 2022 statistics).
