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Follow up on Nevirapine Centres
Women and AIDS Support Network (WASN)
By Mary Sandasi
December 31, 2002

View list of centres supposedly offering Nevirapine

WASN launched its Nevirapine Campaign on May 31 2002 with a petition demanding access to the drug for all HIV positive pregnant women by World AIDS Day this year.

This act was followed by press statements and other advocacy activities, after a realization that the speed with which the government-initiated programme was being implemented was too slow.

As part of its follow-up activities, in July, WASN hosted cemetery prayers in six of the country’s towns, namely Bulawayo, Chinhoyi, Chitungwiza, Gweru, Masvingo and Mutare. The event took place in the children’s section of the various cemeteries, with the message being that "had Nevirapine been available to all HIV positive expectant mothers, we would not be seeing so many graves."

Nevirapine is a drug that can reduce Parent-to-Child-Transmission of HIV by 50 percent when taken by an HIV positive expectant woman during labour. An additional 20mg in the form of syrup is then given to the baby within the first three days of its life for prophylaxis.

Given the fact that at least 60 000 babies born to HIV positive mothers in the country are infected either in the womb, during birth or through breast-milk every year, at least 30 000 lives would be saved if Nevirapine was availed to all the women who need it.

As an organization that is committed to creating an atmosphere where women and girls enjoy their full sexual, reproductive health and rights, it was imperative upon WASN to continue agitating for access to the drug, in the face of unnecessary delays.

To this end, WASN went further to meet with the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr David Parirenyatwa, to discuss its concerns about the Nevirapine programme. Among the key issues were how government intended to avail the drug to all anti-natal care centres by 01 December 2002. The meeting also discussed the implications of government’s declaration of HIV/AIDS as an emergency and how best organizations could capitalize on this.

However, these activities were not enough and WASN decided to go further and monitor the implementation of the Nevirapine programme on the ground. WASN visited some centers to check the progress and gain a better understanding of the challenges being faced by women in accessing the drug.

A total of 30 centers in eight of the country’s provinces were picked at random, with surprise visits and spot checks being conducted to determine whether the drug was available and easily accessible, as well as to gauge the level of health workers’ knowledge about the drug and their attitude towards clients who demanded it.

The random survey revealed that not all centres were administering Nevirapine. The pace at which the program is being implemented has remained extremely slow and although some centres have made adequate preparations such as training relevant staff, the drug has not yet been delivered.

The investigation exposed that not all district hospitals, let alone provincial hospitals, were involved in the programme and the level of knowledge about the drug was low among both health workers and the potential beneficiaries.

The following observations were also made during the survey:

The program has started by training senior administrative staff rather than implementers and this has resulted in the slow pace of its implementation. In addition, the administrative staff who were trained have not handed over to junior employees who should be implementing the program.

There is need to intensify education on Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission, through community mobilisation. Such education should be targeted at both health service providers and communities

There is need to highlight success stories on the efficacy of the drug in order to encourage its uptake by the intended beneficiaries.

Program implementers need to be gender sensitive to create an environment for women to enjoy their full reproductive health and rights, while communities need to be gender sensitized so that they can give maximum support to women.

The program has not received much publicity in both the print and broadcast media, for instance, there are no televised programs about Nevirapine and its benefits.

Clearly, there is need to speed up implementation of the program so that more women benefit from the drug donation. It is our sincere hope that the Ministry will take all steps necessary to ensure that the drug is availed and that babies stop dying prematurely.

Visit the WASN fact sheet

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