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NGOs
using AIDS patients - ZNPP+
Patience
Nyangove, The Daily Mirror (Zimbabwe)
February
06, 2007
http://www.zimmirror.co.zw/dailymirror/view_news.cfm?storyid=29396
ZIMBABWE
Network of People living Positively with HIV and AIDS (ZNPP+),
Benjamin Mazhindu, has accused some humanitarian organisations and
companies of abusing funds meant to benefit people infected and
affected by the pandemic.
Speaking at
a three-day HIV and AIDS reporters workshop in Kadoma recently,
Mazhindu said the organisations and firms were doing so to further
their selfish interests.
The Zimbabwe
Union of Journalists (ZUJ) and the National AIDS Council (NAC)
jointly organized the workshop.
"A lot
of non-governmental organisations and companies are using people
infected and affected with HIV and AIDS to get funds, especially
in foreign currency, from donors.
Unfortunately,
these organisations do not channel that money to help these people,
but use it to enhance themselves," Mazhindu alleged.
He did not disclose
the names of the organisations and companies allegedly abusing the
money.
Turning to another
issue, Mazhindu called for the appointment of someone living with
HIV and AIDS into the NAC board for effective representation of
people living with the pandemic.
He said his
organisation had already approached the Minister of Health and Child
Welfare, David Parirenyatwa, to urgently look into their proposal.
Mazhindu blamed
stigmatisation and discrimination as the main reason why most prominent
people in the country were not so keen to publicly reveal their
HIV status.
"The reason
why parliamentarians and other people are not so keen on coming
out in the open about their HIV status is because you stigmatise
them.
"The current
figure of only 54 000 people on anti retroviral therapy is not the
correct one. They are so many people who are taking ARVs privately,"
Mazhindu claimed.
Speaking
at the same workshop, chief coordinator for AIDS and TB unit in
the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare Owen Mugurungi said over
50 percent of pregnant women who go for voluntary counseling and
testing of HIV and found positive refuse to go through the prevention
of mother to child transmission (PMTCT).
Mugurungi said
the women were being discouraged from PMTCT by their spouses.
"None disclosure
of one’s HIV status, which hinders family support, low male participation
in taking HIV tests in PMTCT are some of the challenges we face,"
Mugurungi said.Last year, he said 151 915 women registered for antenatal
care and out of this number, 12 413 refused counseling and HIV testing.
"One hundred
and thirty-nine thousand five hundred and two (women) had counseling
and an HIV test, out of these 18 514 returned for their test results,
while 18 383 tested HIV positive and 73 661 were negative,"
he said.
He added that
out of these women, only 9 092 are receiving viramune while 11 211
infants are receiving the same anti-retroviral drug.
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