THE rate of HIV and Aids prevalence among children under the age of 15 in Zimbabwe has dropped by a sharp 57% this year while in total Africa recorded a decline of 50% in new infections.
PATIENCE RATAMBWA OWN CORRESPONDENT A total of 1,1 million new HIV infections among children have been prevented as Africa has recorded a 50% decline from 2009 to 2013.
According to a Unicef report released last week, new infections among children had gone down significantly.
Unicef director Anthony Lake encouraged the public to reach out to clinics, hospitals and health centres so they could be aware of prevention and reduction of HIV and Aids among children in an effort to create an HIV-free generation.
“We must close the gap and invest more in reaching every mother, every new born, every child and every adolescent with HIV prevention and treatment programmes that could save and improve their lives,” he said.
“If we can avert 1,1 million new HIV infections in children, we can protect every child from HIV, but only if we manage to reach every child.”
Bulawayo provincial Aids director Sinatra Nyathi, said this was a huge step towards the global aspiration of having HIV eliminated by year 2030.
“We are aiming to end the Aids pandemic by 2030 through the effective application of the universal 90-90-90 ambitious target to end the Aids pandemic,” she said.
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The 90-90-90 ambitious target to help end the aids pandemic aims to have 90% of all people living with HIV knowing their statuses by 2020.
It aims for 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection to receive sustained anti-retroviral therapy by 2020 and have 90% of all people receiving anti-retroviral therapy to have viral suppression by the year 2020.
Nyathi applauded Zimbabweans for their high condom use and encouraged parents to stop homebirths, as this could hinder effective mother-to-child transmission prevention.
“Zimbabweans should know how paramount it is to continue with abstinence or the correct and consistent condom use as HIV is still a deadly pandemic,” she said.
“As a country, we should encourage pregnant women to seek medical help in clinics and healthcare facilities so that procedures are done to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
“If such behaviour continues, surely we can curb HIV.”
Presently, Zimbabwe’s HIV prevalence is at 15%, a slight increase from 14,26% recorded in 2012.
