World Vision refurbishes Mpilo HIV lab

World Vision Zimbabwe has handed over to Mpilo hospital an HIV laboratory that was refurbished at a cost of US$195 000.

The laboratory will help facilitate the early diagnosis of HIV in infants.

World Vision Zimbabwe national director Mr Edward Brown says Mpilo is a strategic health institution to benefit from this gesture given that it services a huge community from the Matabeleland, Midlands and Masvingo provinces.

Mr Edward added that the partnership with government is meant to reduce high maternal and child mortality rate.

The diagnosis of HIV in infants will now take two weeks instead of the six months that it used to take when Mpilo used to send samples to laboratories in Harare.

Early infant diagnosis in Zimbabwe will receive a much needed boost when the new point of care machines, which target infants, are introduced.

These machines will allow babies to be tested on site with a result available within 30 minutes.