{"id":4571,"date":"2024-10-03T13:40:28","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T13:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=4571"},"modified":"2024-10-03T13:40:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T13:40:35","slug":"hiv-testing-to-be-done-at-night-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=4571","title":{"rendered":"HIV Testing to Be Done at Night Spots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><br>Health Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine, you are at the door of your favorite night club and the bouncer says,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;No HIV testing, no entry.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Would you bolt or go ahead and test?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The National AIDS Council (NAC) has taken HIV testing to night spots in Muzarabani, targeting sex workers and their clients who shy away from daytime testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the moonlight, NAC offers HIV testing, cancer screening, and other health services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We noticed that sex workers don&#8217;t attend daytime awareness campaigns, and clients are uncomfortable getting tested in broad daylight,&#8221; said Richard Chasema, district AIDS coordinator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During a recent night-time visit, over 100 individuals, including sex workers and clients, queued for services. Mary, a sex worker from Centenary, appreciated the night testing program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This program is commendable because sex workers are not comfortable seeking services during broad daylight,&#8221; Mary said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blessing, another sex worker, emphasized the importance of protecting herself through condom use. &#8220;As a single mother of three, I prioritize my health.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John, who preferred anonymity, highlighted the need for self-testing kits, citing distant clinics. He also expressed concern about young teenagers engaging in sexual activities due to lack of entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Children as young as 13 and 14 are resorting to sexual activities. We appeal to local leaders to organise sporting activities for our children,&#8221; John said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NAC&#8217;s moonlight testing initiative recorded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>107 men and 67 women tested for HIV<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>4.2% positivity rate<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>High demand for self-testing kits<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Prevalence of STIs among young teenagers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Chasema described the inaugural moonlight testing as a success, targeting hotspots like Muzarabani&#8217;s growth point, Centenary, and St Albert business centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We have clinics and health posts offering primary health care services to alleviate the challenge of long distances to clinics,&#8221; Chasema said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Muzarabani&#8217;s HIV prevalence rate stands at 4.7%, with new infections at 0.07% and 0.03% for younger people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key Quotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;This night testing programme is commendable because sex workers are not comfortable seeking services during broad daylight.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;As a single mother of three, I prioritize my health.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;Children as young as 13 and 14 are resorting to sexual activities. We appeal to local leaders to organise sporting activities for our children.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;We noticed that sex workers don&#8217;t attend daytime awareness campaigns, and clients are uncomfortable getting tested in broad daylight.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zim GBC News\u00a92024<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Health Reporter Imagine, you are at the door of your favorite night club and the bouncer says, &#8220;No HIV testing, no entry.&#8221; Would you bolt or go ahead and test?&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4573,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4571\/revisions\/4573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}