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Positive Women: Voices & Choices - Zimbabwe Report : Preface
Women and AIDS Support Network (WASN)
July 01, 2002

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Preface
by Lynde Francis, Director of the Centre for people living with HIV/AIDS, Harare, Zimbabwe, and ICW regional contact.

This report describes a unique project and process. The International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) developed a project encouraging HIV positive women to share and document our own experiences of living with HIV, particularly in relation to our sexual and reproductive health and needs. We wanted to lead our own research not just showcase it, to own the process not just be subjects of research and to gain skills to advocate for our own health and that of our families and communities.

In Zimbabwe, Positive Women: Voices and Choices has been quite outstanding in its process and outcomes. HIV positive women, from resource-poor mainly rural communities, were elected by their support groups to be trained to collect data and analyse the findings. The process of teamwork gave the women skills and self-confidence and they are now strong advocates from their communities, representing the issues of HIV positive women in many fora and making presentations at high-profile, national and international events. In one district a team leader was appointed to a district health committee, in another free basic medical care was negotiated for women in HIV support groups.

This project was a model of partnership between positive women and researchers, between positive women and those who are negative or untested, and between positive women and community leaders and health care workers. Broad-based partnerships are an essential component of an effective response to HIV and positive women have much to contribute to all HIV prevention and care efforts. The participants in the study showed that an HIV diagnosis has an impact on every aspect of women's lives and that there is a great need for emotional, medical, financial and social support in order for families and communities to better cope with the impact of HIV The report particularly highlights the importance of peer support and coming together in groups to share experiences, build confidence and leam from one another.

Since the project was first conceived in 1995, there have been welcome advances in medical and scientific knowledge and understanding of HIV particularly with regards to the development of anti-retro viral therapies, which have significantly prolonged life and reduced the numbers of AIDS-related deaths in industrialised countries. Whilst the majority of babies born to HIV positive mothers worldwide are not infected with HIV, the use of antiretrovirals in pregnancy has reduced the risk of transmission in many hospitals in the North to less than two per cent. There is not the range of therapeutic options in many developing countries — yet a short-course of antiretroviral therapy is inexpensive and does significantly reduce the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. However short-course anti-retrovirals are only available through small-scale pilot programmes and as the experiences of the women in this project show that opportunities for positive women to protect their own health or to reduce the risk of their babies being infected with HIV continue to be limited.

The findings of this report are highly relevant to young people whose adult lives will be over-shadowed by the HIV epidemic. In 1999, over 25 per cent of young women in Zimbabwe aged between 15 and 24 were thought to be HIV positive, compared to fewer than 10 per cent of men of the same age. The stories shared by women in this project illustrate women's particular vulnerability to HIV infection. Young Zimbabwean women have the right to have families like the generations before them; they deserve good information and the means to protect their babies from becoming infected with HIV. The experiences of the older women in this project can be shared to inform service provision and education for the next generation in a society reeling from the devastating impact of HIV.

Although this project focused on Zimbabwe many of the issues highlighted are shared by positive women within and beyond Africa. We hope that this report will inspire you to work in collaboration with people with HIV for a united response to the HIV pandemic.

For more information, contact Women and AIDS Support Network (WASN) using email - wasn@mweb.co.zw.

Visit the WASN fact sheet

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