HIV self testing beings, 375 000 targeted in two years

HIV self-testing pilot project in 12 districts across the country would be rolled out this month in a move meant to reach out to 375 000 Zimbabweans over the next two years, a senior Government official said yesterday.

However, people in Shamva are still to grasp the concept.

Only individuals above 16 years would be permitted to collect the self test kits.

Addressing journalists at a media symposium organised by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) in Harare HIV testing and counselling coordinator in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Mrs Getrude Ncube, said the protocol for the pilot had since been approved.

"So far we have done accurate studies in Harare and Shamva and we have realised that people from Shamva (a rural setting) did not understand the instructions, so we tried to simplify them again including diagrams on how to conduct the self-testing.

"We have even made Shona translations and we are in the process of coming up with Ndebele translations on the instruction sheet,"

Mrs Ncube said the purpose of the first phase of the pilot project was to ascertain the acceptability and feasibility of self-testing by Zimbabweans.

"Self-testing is meant to normalise HIV testing, provide early diagnosis of HIV and provide greater convenience," she said.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health and Child Care show that an estimated 1,2 million people are living with HIV in Zimbabwe but only 66 percent of them know their HIV status.