THE government has appealed for religious leaders’ support in enhancing the fight against HIV/AIDS. According to the Arusha regional commissioner John Mongella, religious leaders have great influence over members of their congregations. Mr Mongella, who was speaking on World Aids Day here midweek, noted that religious leaders could use their pulpits and members to educate […]
Tag: HIV-Aids and STDs
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who also doubles as the Health Minister, has said despite the Covid-19 induced disruptions to HIV/AIDS service delivery in 2020, the government’s response to HIV was pleasing as new infections decrease. In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy John Mangwiro, Chiwenga said the recent emergence of Covid-19 had […]
Walter Nyamukondiwa and Conrad Mupesa Zimbabwe has reached new milestones in its HIV interventions, reducing prevalence to 11,8 percent, cutting new infections and on course to meet the 95-95-95 targets by 2025, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has said. VP Chiwenga, who is also the Minister Health and Child Care, said Zimbabwe’s HIV delivery system had […]
SOME religious leaders have asked their fellow clerics not to discourage HIV-positive worshippers from continuing using antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) on the ground that only prayers will heal them. The call was made on Monday during a conference that brought together religion leaders and youths to discuss over best ways on how to fight HIV transmissions […]
On the 1st of December every year, the world commemorates World AIDS Day, a day set aside to raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, sharing progress and successes as well as identifying challenges in tackling the virus globally and locally. World AIDS Day is also an important reminder to encourage everyone to treat those living […]
Pandemics exacerbate and thrive on inequity. They find the fissures in our societies and deepen them. As a result, the poorest and most marginalized always suffer the most. We have seen this with HIV and are seeing it again with COVID-19. Rich countries are starting booster vaccination campaigns while most people in poor countries go […]
For some years now, our top-line conclusions when looking at South Africa’s HIV statistics have been reasonably consistent. We are doing well at testing people, and if people who are living with HIV start and stay on treatment, they mostly stay healthy and the virus is suppressed to undetectable levels in their bodies. The problem […]
This year’s commemoration of World AIDS Day occurs in a complicated terrain where essential services have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the theme “End Inequality, End AIDS. End pandemic” this day is more than a call for a balance in health interventions to give all patients the chance to have equitable access to […]
In Nigeria, at least 20,695 children were newly infected with HIV in 2020. A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has shown that, at least, one child globally was infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) every two minutes in 2020. The report, which was released to commemorate the 2021 World AIDS […]
In 2020, the Key populations group which includes female sex workers (FSW), People who injects drugs, men who have sex with men (MSM) -accounted for 65 per cent of new HIV infections globally When the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Truvada as an oral HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in 2012, […]
THE City of Bulawayo is witnessing an increase in the prevalence of HIV among women and persons of diverse, sexual orientation and gender identities. Speaking at the Fast-Track Cities signing ceremony Wednesday, Bulawayo mayor Solomon Mguni, revealed the prevalence of new infections in young girls and women was more than double the number of infections […]
Ideally, the response to HIV/AIDS is one that demands concerted efforts across vertical and horizontal angles; involving all segments of the society – from governments at all levels to civil society organizations (CSOs), professional bodies particularly the media, religious, traditional, community leaders, individual support down to market leaders. The reason is that HIV/AIDS still exists, […]
Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana have launched a regional programme that seeks to reduce the prevalence of HIV among adolescents, girls and young women in three districts across the SADC countries. The project, Combination Prevention for Adolescent Girls and Young Women and their male counterparts, is expected to build capacities for peer led interventions delivered through […]
Africa’s sharp increase in diabetes is clashing with the COVID-19 pandemic and poor access to vaccines. Africa’s death rates from COVID-19 infections are significantly higher in patients with diabetes, according to a preliminary analysis which the World Health Organization (WHO) presented today in advance of the World Diabetes Day on 14 November. “COVID-19 is delivering […]
Children living with HIV have to take multiple different antiretroviral (ARV) pills or syrups twice a day, while most adults in South Africa have been offered one pill once a day regimens for around a decade. At the recent South African HIV Clinicians Society (SAHCS) conference, various speakers argued that better treatment regimens for kids […]
For about eight months, HIV-positive mothers have been unable to know the status of their newborns because of the unavailability of early infant diagnosis kits. Expectant mothers also risk giving birth to HIV-positive babies because most of them have been missing prophylaxis during ante-natal care. In the same vein, Kenyans who would want to know […]
Nairobi — Kenya is among the first African countries to receive the new formulation of the Paediatric ART to be administered to children and infants living with HIV. The new ART regimen drug – Dolutegravir (DTG) which was not initially available for children weighing less than 20kgs, has been rolled out in 12 counties said […]
The devastation that COVID-19 has brought on global economies and the grief it has left on many families cannot be overemphasized. Many countries are now counting the cost and putting up strategies to counter reoccurrence of the disastrous experience. In the same light, Non Governmental Organisations have intensified efforts to ensure the vulnerable are protected […]