HARARE, 1. November: Zimbabwes HIV/AIDS prevalence rate has declined further from 18,1 percent in 2006 to 15,6 percent this year among adults aged 15 to 49, the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare announced on Wednesday.
Minister David Parirenyatwa said the infection rate had also dropped showing that at least one in seven Zimbabweans was living with the virus compared to about one in every five infected with HIV last year.
He said weekly deaths related to the pandemic had significantly decreased from 3.000 to 2.300 while the HIV incidence rate stood just below 0,4 percent.
He, however, said despite the positive decline in HIV/AIDS cases, the country still needed to intensify its efforts towards the fight against the worlds number one killer disease.
Parirenyatwa said this at the launch of three key health documents namely the Zimbabwe Demography and Health Survey, National HIV/AIDS Estimates document and Antenatal HIV/AIDS and Syphilis Clinic Survey.
He said the decrease in HIV/AIDS cases was due to a combination of programs initiated by the government to reduce and prevent the spread of the pandemic. The programs, he said, included an improvement in maternal care and use of contraceptives such as condoms.
More and more children are being born without contracting the virus from their mothers, he said, adding this was because of the antiretroviral (ARV) therapy given to pregnant mothers.
About 1,3 million Zimbabweans out of a population of fewer than 12 million are expected to be living with HIV by year end. Parirenyatwa said the number could increase if people do not change their behavior towards the virus.
He, however, said there was great need to improve the supply of ARVs to the infected as this boosted their immune and increased their life span.
– About 260.000 people are in need of ARVs and we have only managed to put about 91,000 under treatment. This means we have a big gap of 170.000 to fill, he noted.
Meanwhile, also Zimbabwes infant and maternal mortality rates have declined over the past few years as the country scales up efforts to improve maternal health care, local media New Ziana reported on Wednesday.
Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa said the number of women and children dying from maternal complications had drastically decreased in recent years, although he indicated that more effort was still required to improve maternal health care.
The infant mortality rate declined from 65 per 1.000 live births in 1999 to 60 per 1.000 in 2005 and 2006, while the maternal mortality ratio has also declined from 695 per 100.000 live births to 555 per 100.000 live birth in 2005 and 2006, he said.
The minister said the under five mortality decreased from 102 per 1.000 live births in 1999 to 82 in the past two years.
– To imagine that all these improvements in the health indices were made in the face of glaring challenges makes it even more impressive, he said, adding that more work is however still needed to further bring the numbers down.
Parirenyatwa concluded that the government would strive to ensure that every woman has access to a health facility within a distance of about 16 km.
Kilder: Xinhua General News Service og The Push Journal
