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WASN joins the nation in commemorating International Women's Day
Women and AIDS Support Network (WASN)
March 06, 2006

Women and AIDS Support Network (WASN) joins the nation in commemorating the International Women's Day with sad reflections on the lives of women in Zimbabwe today.

Women remain the most infected and affected people by HIV and AIDS which is claiming many lives. Women are dying prematurely of AIDS because of a number of factors, which chiefly includes lack of access to HIV related treatment due to poverty.

A quick survey at Harare's pharmacies revealed that prices of Anti- retrovirals, drugs taken to slow down the growth of the virus by a person living with HIV have reached astronomical levels. The drugs cost anything from $3 million to $16 million a month depending on the drug line that one would be taking.

In a country where the vast majority of women are living under the poverty datum line it is difficult for them to purchase these drugs if a doctor prescribes them. In cases where the woman is working it will be difficult for her to weigh her options of buying food, pay rentals and then be able to purchase her medication for every month for the rest of her life.

The Government has come in, in giving ARVs at major hospitals but still this is not reaching the vast majority of women who are the most infected.

As we are commemorating this day for women we are also saddened by the numbers of women who where killed or maimed due to gender based violence which also predispose women to HIV and AIDS.

On 17 January this year, Zimbabweans woke up to see a disturbing headline in the Herald saying, 'Woman killed for failure to breastfeed'. This is just an example of many stories that where reported on women who were dying at the hands of there loved ones in bizarre cases of gender violence. In this case, this woman was killed after severe beatings from her father, brother and husband.

It boggles the mind how a father, brother and husband can team up for such a horrendous act. The crime of this woman was that she had failed to breastfeed therefore accused of witchcraft. In a country where information is supposed to be rampant on breastfeeding, that it is a choice by a mother because she might be knowing her HIV status and choose not to breastfeed, it becomes difficult to understand how this vital information eluded this trio.

This shows that not enough is being done to educate the general populace on the issues to do with their health. As WASN we conduct public meetings in provinces where we invite authorities in the HIV and AIDS field from Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and also National AIDS Council to give insights on the disease.

On the day of commemorating women's rights we urge members of the public and authorities to view women as people with rights that needs to be realized and upheld for the betterment of the future.

Patrick Chinamasa the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs promised during the sixteen days of activism against gender violence last year that the Domestic Violence Bill will be tabled during this parliamentary session. This has not yet happened because of some reasons. It is our hope that as we are celebrating the women's day serious considerations would be put on whatever is stopping the Bill from being presented in Parliament.

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