ZIMBABWE: Huge cash boost for PSI anti-AIDS programme

Johannesburg, 13 October 2006 (PlusNews) - Population Services International (PSI), a nonprofit voluntary organisation, confirmed on Friday that it had received US$37 million to tackle HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe over the next five years.

PSI country director Michael Chommie said the joint contribution by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was the third largest single-country grant his organisation had ever received.

"The funds will go a long way in addressing a wide range of AIDS-related subjects in Zimbabwe, but the main focus would be on the issues of safer sex practices, and eradicating the stigma and discrimination which is still rife here," he told PlusNews.

Besides providing HIV voluntary testing and counselling services, and promoting safe sex by distributing more than 250 million condoms, including 5.5 million female ones, PSI's activities would also use the voices of prominent local figures to help bring about a change in the general public's perception of AIDS.

Chommie said the message that everyone was affected by the pandemic would encourage more people to take ownership of the disease. "Too many people are still shunned and ostracised by their own families upon discovering they are HIV-positive. We want to make people aware that AIDS is a manageable illness, and that infected people can live long and productive lives with the proper care and support."

PSI rolled out 'Phase I' of its initiative in 2005, bringing the voices of HIV-positive individuals into people's homes by means of television, radio and print, and was set to launch 'Phase II' in November this year, with public personalities speaking out against AIDS.

The initiative would be aimed at encouraging over a million Zimbabweans who were still unaware of their positive HIV status to be tested and make use of available services.

The Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey for 2005-06 recently showed that although HIV prevalence had dropped from 20.1 percent to 18.1 percent among adults, women were still the hardest hit, with prevalence rates reaching 21.1 percent, while a much lower 14.5 percent of men were HIV-positive.

"This is why consistent condom use remains a major component of PSI anti-AIDS interventions. Our condoms are heavily subsidised, but not free, because even the seemingly insignificant cost of Z$10 adds value to the item, and they are not readily discarded like most free condoms usually are," Chommie commented.

He welcomed the DFID/USAID funding as a timely contribution to fighting the pandemic in a country struggling with a shaky economic and political climate.

Most Western donors froze aid to Zimbabwe after President Robert Mugabe's controversial fast-track land-reform programme began in 2000, followed by reports of violence and intimidation during the 2000 and 2002 elections.

"So, when it comes to tackling AIDS in Zimbabwe," Chommie told PlusNews, "every contribution from international donors is a step in the right direction."

hh/he/oa

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]