80 PERCENT OF ZIMBABWEAN PROSTITUTES TEST HIV POSITIVE

Eighty percent of prostitutes who have gone for HIV testing in the past five years in Zimbabwe have been found positive, the state media has reported.

National Aids Council behaviour change manager Mr Oscar Mundi said research showed that nearly all prostitutes who have opted for voluntary counselling and testing are living with HIV and/or Aids.

"Of all the vulnerable groups, prostitutes are the largest group contributing to the spread of the disease as well as the most likely to get infected," he said at an Aids workshop in Harare.

Delegates to the workshop called for more policy initiatives that would ensure programming targeted such vulnerable groups.

Zimbabwe Business Council on Aids programme officer Mrs Esther Magara-mombe said: "It is vital to have legislative policies that support programming activities for these groups.

"We can’t keep ignoring them and their impact on our fight against Aids."

NAC youth co-ordinator Ms Beauty Nyamwanza said there was need to have programmes targeting homosexuals as these were also neglected when it came to interventions.

"Unlike prostitutes, homosexuals are not being targeted at all. Even though society generally does not condone the existence of this group, it is important to know that they are especially vulnerable to HIV and Aids," she said.

Unicef youth and support development officer Mrs Charity Rugabe added that there was need for synergies in HIV prevention instead of having a fragmented approach that has seen more than 200 organisations coming up with their own programmes in Zimbabwe.

"There are hundreds of organisations that are into prevention advocacy. We need to see a national policy document that drives them.

"This will ensure a more co-ordinated response, better distribution of funds and also help ensure that all areas of concern are addressed through minimising duplication," she said.

Delegates at the workshop formed a technical working group that will oversee a comprehensive review of prevention approaches and interventions in Zimbabwe to increase the level of prevention success.

NAC convened the meeting.

A recent UNAids study revealed that at least 1 300 people in Zimbabwe die each week from Aids-related illnesses. Harare Correspondent