Health Reporter
Government intensifies its efforts to end AIDS in children by 2030 as enunciated by the Global Alliance, through romping up the training of its health care workers and men in general.
The programme that was launched at the International Aids Conference in Montreal, Canada, seeks to eradicate Mother-To-Child Transmission (EMTCT) of HIV and Syphilis at birth.
Speaking at the 3rd quarter of the 2022 meeting on the EMTCT of HIV and Syphilis, Vice President of Zimbabwe and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantino Chiwenga highlighted that his Ministry had embarked on an array of programmes aimed at fully equipping health care workers both in the private and public sectors with the task at hand.
“We will not leave our private sector behind and with support from the Organisation for Public Health Interventions and Development (OPHID), we managed to train 123 health workers from Bulawayo that included 55 private sector medical doctors on our priorities for the HIV programme including our EMTCT agenda. We look forward to training more private sector colleagues in other provinces in the country,” said VP Chiwenga.
He stressed that his Ministry recognised the importance of men in general, as important conduits for the success of this programme. As such, they have trained a sizeable number of them.
“Men play a very important role in the implementation of our elimination plan and we managed to train 568 male mobilisers from 14 districts across the country with support from the Global Fund and the National Aids Council during the second and third quarters. We look forward to training more mobilizers in the fourth quarter and working with them in improving male involvement in EMTCT,” said VP Chiwenga.
Through extensive and rigorous training exercises such as this one, Zimbabwe has managed to deal decisively with the recent COVID-19 Pandemic, becoming one of the best countries in Africa to combat the spread of COVID19, also experiencing the least number of deaths. Citizens have also been encouraged to visit their nearest Health facilities for testing and screening purposes to ensure that the programme is a success and that set targets are achievable within set period.
