A non governmental organisation has commended government for providing free Anti-Retroviral drugs to people living with HIV and AIDs without discrimination.
Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Managing Director, Rene Schultz, told ZANIS in Mazabuka today, that the political will shown by the Zambian government in the fight against HIV has cheered his organisation.
Mr Schultz said organisations championing the cause of HIV and AIDS have been inspired to work hard and supplement govrnment’s efforts in the fight against the pandemic because of the healthy working environment created by the government.
He said as a result of this, DAPP, through Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE) will soon launch a mobile anti-retroviral therapy (ART) clinic targeting people living with HIV and AIDS in the hard to reach areas of Mazabuka to provide free ART services.
Mr Schultz said staff to man the mobile clinic have already been recruited while the Ministry of Health has also given a go ahead to conduct the programme.
He said his organisation has identified long distance as a major hindrance to people living with HIV in adhering to treatment.
” We are going to reach out to people in fishing camps and hilly areas and make it easier for them to access ARVs and other services,” said Schultz.
And Mr Schultz has expressed optimism that the HIV prevalence rate in the country is likely to further drop to 13 percent following interventions put in place by both government and its partners.
He said this could be attributed to knowledge and free will to discuss HIV and AIDS by people in rural areas who previously depended so much on magazines, radio and television for information to protect themselves.
Mr Schultz said people diagnosed with HIV and AIDS were now using condoms to protect people who are not affected by the pandemic while stigma has drastically reduced.
He also said DAPP will continue training field officers because they are key in the fight against the pandemic.
And TCE Special Force, Petronella Bowa, said TCE remains committed to providing necessary information to disadvantaged communities while people have the moral right to liberate themselves from contracting HIV and AIDS.
ZANIS
Good move but also clear that case of the officers who were tested for HIV without there knowledge and then fired.
……………….prevention is better than cure…………….. instead of teaching girls rubbish pa fisungu, teach them how to protect them selves from contracting the virus by safe sex. Stop encouraging women to use primitive methods like dry sex, which causes bruises for both male and female during friction, therefore makes the risk of contracting the virus very high…