Zimbabwe: Major step in a fight against HIV

After adopting World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on HIV treatment and prevention, Zimbabwe will soon start pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) programs in selected districts in the country. The programs will include people who do not have HIV but at risk of acquiring it.

PrEP (brand name Truvada) is a one-a-day pill regiment medication contains of 2 drugs (tenofovir and emtricitabine) which is highly effective in HIV prevention.

It is estimated that that AIDS-related deaths in Zimbabwe had declined by 77 percent in the last decade as the country moves towards ending AIDS by 2030. The country recently adopted the new WHO guidelines on HIV treatment and prevention and starting of PrEP pilot programs is a first step to introduce it to all health system.

"The national guidelines also entail that we test and treat anyone found to be HIV positive unlike in the old days when we initiated ART only on people whose CD4 count was less than 400. We have also started rolling out HIV self-test kits in a few districts."