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Padare on the drive to promote HIV/AIDS treatment literacy
Padare/Enkundleni/Men's Forum on Gender
November 10, 2009

The Mashonaland Central Province Padare Community is promoting programmes on Advocacy for HIV/AIDS literacy. This is an insightful programme on how people contract the disease, as well as understanding what anti-retroviral therapy is, providing information on nutrition and how to prevent opportunistic infections among other issues.

Treatment literacy is part of effective and comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS as the participants will also be building skills in problem solving, overcoming stigma and discrimination as well as preparing communities for the introduction and sustainability of Anti-retroviral therapy.

These meetings will take place in Shamva, Mt Darwin and Mazoe.

In Shamva they will be gathered at Shamva Country Club, from 10 -12 November.

Mt Darwin community will converge at the Youth Centre where again 30 people will undergo thorough training on the HIV/AIDS literacy with another training taking place in Mazoe at the Mazoe Country Club from 13 - 15 November from 9am to 1 pm.

Padare is implementing this programme through the assistance of SAfAIDS and the Global fund.

Mr Arab Majavala, the Bindura Padare Chapter Chairperson and Mr. Reuben Pfumbe a member of Padare are spearheading the trainings. Mr Majavala highlighted that they are targeting males especially because they have been very reluctant to get tested or to know more about how they can take care of their loved ones when they get diagnosed of the HIV/AIDS.

The workshops wills see 30 people attending each workshop which will run for three days. The thirty people will be drawn from different spheres of influence in the community. This training of trainers' workshop will also come up with a blue print on how the whole community will benefit from such an initiative.

HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to ravage the populace and reports indicate that most people succumb quickly due to lack of information on how to access drugs. Moreover a lot of men over they years have not been forthcoming in terms of going for voluntary testing which has further exacerbated the spread of the disease or people simply dying out of ignorance. Such interventions as the one currently undergoing in Mashonaland Province will minimize the cases of the spreading of the disease unknowingly and promote positive living in families.

Research has shown that engaging individuals and communities effectively can improve health outcomes, contribute to greater uptake of voluntary counseling and testing, facilitating better adherence and leading to greater belief in the effectiveness of anti-retroviral therapy.

Such processes will see a greater number of men opening up and getting tested so as to prevent the further spread of the virus or continuous promiscuity. We believe a real man is capable of protecting those around him by getting tested and leading positive lives throughout.

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