The media is playing a significant role in promoting HIV and Aids awareness, increasing knowledge and changing health behaviours that have seen the country recording a very sharp decline in both HIV incidence and prevalence.
By Moses Mugugunyeki
The remarks were made by Health and Child Care deputy minister Aldrin Musiiwa when he was officially opening a news editors’ workshop organised by the National Aids Council in Chinhoyi on Thursday.
Musiiwa said media campaigns were among a cocktail of HIV prevention methods adopted by the country that were linked to an increase in HIV and Aids knowledge among Zimbabweans.
“You may be aware that Zimbabwe has been recognised among the few countries that have recorded a very sharp decline in both HIV incidence and prevalence,” he said.
“We have also managed to scale-up access to services, including provision of ARVs. One of our excellent reputations is in the area of domestic funding for which we are regarded as a pathfinder on account of the Aids Levy.
“What I want to underline is that these achievements have been due to the intensified collaboration and sector participation where-in the media have played a crucial role. It is this role that we are meeting this week to enhance so that our pursuit of the said targets will achieve even better results.”
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The deputy minister said the ambitious target to end Aids by 2030 required an informed and empowered nation.
“As news editors, your role in this imperative is very critical as you make decisions about what the nation must know about, how much of that and when they should know about it. We as policy makers and programme implementers therefore rely on you to disseminate information as needed,” he said.
Musiiwa said the workshop, which was attended by news editors from both the print and electronic media, was to ensure that journalists understood various concepts around HIV and Aids so that they package the information well for the consumption of Zimbabweans.
“My ministry regards you as key partners not only in the response to HIV and Aids, but across the gamut of health delivery system. As you have noted, Sustainable Development Goal 3 seeks to ensure healthy lives and the promotion of the well-being for all, including ending the epidemics of Aids, tuberculosis, malaria and other communicable diseases,” he said.
NAC board vice-chairperson Beatrice Tonhodzayi-Ngondo said knowledge was an important determinant in the pathways to changing health behaviours and as such, it was critical to have regular interaction with the media.
“You will agree with me that the HIV and Aids field is very dynamic with frequently and rapidly changing developments and phenomenon that affect people’s lives,” she said.
“It is therefore necessary that we regularly interact with producers of news and information at various levels so that we share these developments and ensure that the nation is adequately informed.
“The response is now geared towards ending Aids by 2030 and there are a lot of targets that we need to achieve as we build towards that goal, chiefly the need for 90% of people living with HIV to know their status; 90% of people living with HIV to be on treatment; and 90% of people on treatment to have their viral load suppressed, all by 2020.”
Tonhodzayi-Ngondo said NAC had invested heavily in systems, structures and facilities to ensure that the country met the 90:90:90 target.
“You may be aware that 50% of our income is set aside and invested in procurement and support of the national treatment programme. The input and roles of different partners in pursuit of these targets have been very critical,” she said.
She said Zimbabwe was among a handful of countries that heavily invested in HIV prevention, which saw the decline of both the incidence and prevalence over the years.
“To sustain this and to ensure that we end Aids, Zimbabwe now seeks to close the tap of new infections guided by the HIV Prevention Revitalisation Roadmap. As such, we are targeting to reduce new HIV infections among adolescents and adults by 50% from 48 774 in 2014 to 24 387 by end of 2018. Among infants, we are targeting to reduce new infections by 90% from 7 400 in 2014 to 6 800 by 2018,” she said.
Tonhodzayi-Ngondo said NAC was investing at least $5 million a year in HIV prevention to support HIV and Aids programmes at community level.
NAC chief executive officer Tapuwa Magure said engaging the media on regular basis was part of his organisation’s strategy of increasing HIV and Aids awareness in pursuit of the goal of ending Aids by 2030.
“These activities [media engagements] are always followed by an increase in the number of stories appearing in various media and we are excited about that. I must say that there is always room for improvement, particularly in terms of the depth and compassion that we can build into these stories,” he said.
