News / National
Decline in AIDS-related deaths
22 Jun 2013 at 05:35hrs | Views
MORE than 600 people on antiretroviral therapy have died between January and March, a decline compared to last year's 811 during the same period. In an interview on Wednesday, National Aids Council (NAC) Monitoring and Evaluation Director, Mr Amon Mpofu said 629 people died while on ART during the first quarter of the year.
"A total of 629 ART patients died between January and March, marking a 24,4 percent decline when comparing with last year's 811 cases during the same period," he said.
Mr Mpofu said about 77 000 cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were recorded in the country's health centres during the first quarter.
STI statistics dropped by about four percent from 80 289 during the same period last year.
He said Harare province recorded the highest number of STI cases.
"This year we recorded 66 428 new cases and 10 654 repeat cases, which accounts to a total of 77 082 STI reported cases in the first quarter of the year compared to 67 768 new cases and 12 521 repeat cases over the same period last year. Harare recorded the highest figures of 14 830," said Mr Mpofu.
Last year, a total of 304 791 STI cases were recorded throughout the country.
Masvingo is the second highest with 11 283 cases followed by Midlands, which recorded 9 196 cases. Manicaland had 7 513 cases while Mashonaland West recorded 7 394 cases.
Matabeleland North had 4 814 cases while Matabeleland South recorded 4 816.
Bulawayo recorded 5 797 cases while Mashonaland Central had 6 167 cases. A total of 7 155 cases were reported in Mashonaland East.
Mr Mpofu said more than 10 million condoms were distributed during the first quarter of the year.
"We distributed 10 025 076 condoms throughout the country during the first three months of the year of which 9 252 945 were male condoms while 772 131 were female ones," he said.
Contacted for comment, Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+) national chairperson Mr Sebastian Chinhaire said there was a need for everyone to step up efforts in increasing the treatment for people living with HIV and Aids.
"These figures are a cause for concern since our target is to reduce the HIV and Aids prevalence to zero by 2015. We need to scale up treatment programmes for patients on ART," said Mr Chinhaire.
He said plans were underway to ensure that the educational programmes on reducing STIs reached all the communities.
"We will continue to lobby the Government to re-visit the Aids levy and try to increase it and ensure that the informal sector also contributes to the levy," said Mr Chinhaire.
"A total of 629 ART patients died between January and March, marking a 24,4 percent decline when comparing with last year's 811 cases during the same period," he said.
Mr Mpofu said about 77 000 cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were recorded in the country's health centres during the first quarter.
STI statistics dropped by about four percent from 80 289 during the same period last year.
He said Harare province recorded the highest number of STI cases.
"This year we recorded 66 428 new cases and 10 654 repeat cases, which accounts to a total of 77 082 STI reported cases in the first quarter of the year compared to 67 768 new cases and 12 521 repeat cases over the same period last year. Harare recorded the highest figures of 14 830," said Mr Mpofu.
Last year, a total of 304 791 STI cases were recorded throughout the country.
Masvingo is the second highest with 11 283 cases followed by Midlands, which recorded 9 196 cases. Manicaland had 7 513 cases while Mashonaland West recorded 7 394 cases.
Bulawayo recorded 5 797 cases while Mashonaland Central had 6 167 cases. A total of 7 155 cases were reported in Mashonaland East.
Mr Mpofu said more than 10 million condoms were distributed during the first quarter of the year.
"We distributed 10 025 076 condoms throughout the country during the first three months of the year of which 9 252 945 were male condoms while 772 131 were female ones," he said.
Contacted for comment, Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+) national chairperson Mr Sebastian Chinhaire said there was a need for everyone to step up efforts in increasing the treatment for people living with HIV and Aids.
"These figures are a cause for concern since our target is to reduce the HIV and Aids prevalence to zero by 2015. We need to scale up treatment programmes for patients on ART," said Mr Chinhaire.
He said plans were underway to ensure that the educational programmes on reducing STIs reached all the communities.
"We will continue to lobby the Government to re-visit the Aids levy and try to increase it and ensure that the informal sector also contributes to the levy," said Mr Chinhaire.
Source - Zimpapers
