Officials in Zimbabwe say the country is poised to meet the United Nations’ goal of achieving universal access to HIV medication, treatment and care by 2010. The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare reports that it is well on its way to treating 140,000 people living with HIV/AIDS by year’s end (allafrica.com/The Herald, 10/26).
“More than 80 percent of our target population are already on ARVs,” says Dr. Owen Mugurungi, head of the AIDS and Tuberculosis Unit in Zimbabwe’s health ministry. “If we double our efforts in the next two months that means we might surpass the set target.” However, like in many other African countries, local health care workers in Zimbabwe view 100 percent access to care as a challenge; as a result, health officials in Zimbabwe are funneling their efforts into meeting more achievable district targets and have considered lowering the goal to 75 percent.
Organizations such as the Zimbabwe AIDS Network have found several flaws in the country’s AIDS strategy and hardly share the optimism of health ministry officials. Zimbabwe previously failed to meet the requirements of the World Health Organization’s 3 by 5 Initiative, which aimed to provide treatments to 3 million people by 2005.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
