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Keep politics out of HIV/Aids - Gono
The Herald (Zimbabwe)
March 30, 2007

http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=17054&cat=1

THE international community should not politicise any support to do with the fight against HIV and Aids in Zimbabwe, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono said yesterday.

Dr Gono, who was the guest speaker at a breakfast meeting for captains of industry, said there were various forums to address political issues and this should not be extended to HIV and Aids support programmes.

"Our appeal to the international community is that we must not politicise any support to do with the fight against HIV and Aids," Dr Gono said.

The central bank boss said HIV and Aids, coupled with the other challenges the country was going through, posed a serious threat to efforts to turn around the economy.

He said Zimbabwe continued to battle with economic challenges such as high inflation, price distortions, accumulation of external arrears and increasing inefficiencies by public enterprises and local authorities, among others.

"As monetary authorities, we share Zapso’s view that no economic turnaround strategy will bear fruit if the deleterious effects of HIV and Aids on the nation’s human resource base are not properly managed.

"This deadly disease attacks the core of our families, the strength of our communities, collectively wilting the country’s promise and potential.

"Unless we take bold steps as a nation to arrest the momentum of this scourge, the economy therefore stands to suffer irreparable impairment through loss of skilled human capital, an overstretched health sector, reduced output and attendant increases in poverty levels, spurred by unsustainable dependency burdens arising from HIV and Aids-related orphanages," he said.

The governor said there was an urgent need to fix the economy, since poverty and HIV and Aids were inextricably interlinked.

"It should therefore come as no surprise that high levels of poverty and HIV and Aids co-exist in Zimbabwe. One of the best ways to fight the scourge is therefore to tackle the current economic challenges that I have alluded to, which are inflicting untold hardships on the general population.

"It is only when the economy has been placed on a sustainable growth path that we should expect enduring gains in the fight against HIV and Aids," he said.

Dr Gono said Government had demonstrated its total commitment to the fight against the pandemic, through various strategies such as the Aids levy and forging strategic partnerships with various stakeholders.

To that end, he said, Zimbabwe had witnessed a steady decline in the HIV and Aids prevalence rate, which now stood at 18,1 percent.

Speaking at the same occasion, Swedish Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Sten Rylander said: "I want to agree with the governor that politics should not come into the picture when it comes to mobilising financial resources to fight HIV and Aids."

He pledged Sweden’s continued support to Zimbabwe in the fight against the scourge.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Mr Callisto Jokonya said the HIV and Aids pandemic continued to impact negatively on productivity at a time when industry was grappling with other challenges.

"We must not take comfort in the decline (in the prevalence rate). We still have a lot of work to do," said Mr Jokonya.

Calling for transparency in the use of the Aids levy, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions president Mr Lovemore Matombo said the pandemic remained a major concern for the labour body.

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