Shangombo residents urged to test for HIV

Shangombo District Commissioner, Mubita Siyamana, has urged the people in the area to know their HIV statuses.

Mr. Siyamana revealed that it was disheartening that there are a few people who are aware of their HIV and AIDS status in the district.

He said people in Shangombo district, which is a border town, need to visit health facilities and be tested for them to know their HIV/AIDS statuses.

Mr. Siyamana said in an interview with ZANIS that there is a need to have a stakeholders’ meeting that will involve the traditional leadership and the community in the area to create awareness on issues to do with people’s health.

“I urge everyone to come on board. This is a noble fight that needs everyone to come on board to see to it that sensitisation is intensified,” he said.

He said the engagement is meant to create awareness by sensitising the people in the community on the importance of knowing their HIV status.

“It is unlike the olden days where people were highly stigmatised that they were failing to have courage to seek medical services. These days, immediately one is found with the virus, they are put on treatment right there and then,” he said.

He revealed that the Zambia National Service (ZNS), which is currently working on the Shangombo-Sioma road, has released about K10 000 towards community sensitisation programmes regarding the need for people to know their statuses.

And speaking during the District HIV and AIDS Committee (DHAC) meeting, Choolwe Himanji, who is the District AIDS Committee Advisor (DACA), disclosed that some of the activities that the committee will undertake are post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) promotion, HIV testing and sensitisation, condom distribution and sensitisation on gender based violence.

Mr Himanji said this was being done to mitigate the spread of HIV among the local community located between Mulangu ward and Simu ward.

He added that this was also to increase the number of people that know their status, have tested and have viral load suppressed as per the revised National AIDS strategic framework.