Stigma stalling HIV fight

By Vanessa Gonye | Feb. 23, 2024

“It's sad to note that in the recently completed stigma index 2.0, our stigma experience stands at 69,7%. We want to reduce that to less than 10%.

STAKEHOLDERS in the fight against HIV and Aids say the high rate of stigma, which stands at 69%, is thwarting efforts to eradicating the global pandemic.

Addressing guests at a Youth Advocates Sadc Youth Helpline meeting in Chitungwiza yesterday, UNAids Advisor, Equality and Rights for all, Jeremiah Manyika said the 10, 10, 10 targets are very essential in achieving an end to Aids by 2030.

The 10-10-10 targets state that by 2025 less than 10% countries should have punitive legal and policy environments that deny or limit access to services, less than 10% of people living with HIV and key populations will experience stigma and discrimination, and less than 10% of women, girls, people will be living with HIV.

“It's sad to note that in the recently completed stigma index 2.0, our stigma experience stands at 69,7%. We want to reduce that to less than 10%. So you see that we have a lot of work to do as partners. We also want to reduce the experience of gender-based violence to less than 10%,” Manyika said.

“We also want to reduce the number of punitive laws to less than 10%. So you understand that in our context, we actually have a lot of punitive laws against sexual orientation. We have laws that prohibit or curtail access to services for young people.

“Young people fail to access services because they need parental consent, they need a guardian to take them to hospital, and yet they really need to access HIV testing services in time. So these 10, 10, 10 targets are also very essential and important if we are to achieve ending Aids by 2030.”

Zimbabwe has achieved the 95, 95, 95 at crude population level, but on sub-population groups, there are still challenges in achieving this, especially for young people, with children recording 65, 99 and 86.

The event saw participants from Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe coming together to share their experiences over the joint initiative.