Harare, Zimbabwe (News of the South)-A lot of stigma and discrimination against key populations in society and government is reducing the ability of the country to reach its targets of 90-90-90 by 2020 and there is need for civil society to step up its role and steer towards change in attitudes.
Key populations mainly include gays, lesbians, sex workers, drug users and other personalities who have generally found it hard to integrate into the African society.
These specific populations consist of people who are considered to be at a significantly higher risk of HIV infection than the general population due to their behaviours, the nature of their duty and lifestyle practices
Speaking at a civil society forum in Harare a grouping of gays and lesbians working in the civil society said the current drive for the 2020 target is set to fail as it is failing to address the issues of stigma and discrimination.
“We are still witnessing sustained discrimination against gays and sex workers amongst others and yet they are the key personnel in the TB/HIV fight”.
“How can we reach our targets if we are leaving them behind? The Ministry of Health and Child Care is itself not doing justice to key populations and merely describes them as man at risk”, one official said.
“We still have to push for a change, steer the thought process of the nation so that the target can be realised”, they said.
Zimbabwe is among countries that have made the most remarkable response to HIV in Southern Africa.
From 2004 to 2014, the number of people accessing antiretroviral therapy increased from 11 800 to 788 000.
Similarly, new HIV infections declined by 46 percent between 2002 and 2014, and HIV prevalence fell from 25,9 percent in 2002 to 16,7 percent in 2014.
Gays and lesbians have struggled for acceptance in Zimbabwe with President Mugabe denigrating their practices as a Western culture being foisted upon locals.
Their presence and acceptance in Zimbabwe has at times become a political issue which has generally seen the opposition parties being seen as more liberal to them whilst the ZANU PF government has maintained a conservative approach.
Comments
About Author
