Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE, AFP) Zim hails success in HIV fight

COMMENT - This AFP article claims that the drop national HIV prevalence rate from 33% to 14.1% and lower is "attributed to government and donor-backed prevention campaigns" - which is a lie. This drop is a statistical slight of hand, caused by the switch from surveys of pregnant women in urban areas only, to surveys representative of the general population. Both survey types are using a highly sensitive single ELISA screening test, whearas in diagnosis, 2 positive elisas and 2 positive western blot tests are required before someone can be declared 'HIV positive'. If they really want to "push the rate down into single digits", all they have to do is start using a Western Blot as a confirmation test in their surveys.

See:

Estimates on HIV called too high
New data cut rates for many nations
By John Donnelly, Globe Staff | June 20, 2004

How AIDS in Africa Was Overstated
Reliance on Data From Urban Prenatal Clinics Skewed Early Projections
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, April 6, 2006

Zim hails success in HIV fight
by
25/09/2009 00:00:00

THE Ministry of Health on Thursday reported new progress in the fight against Aids, saying Zimbabwe’s HIV infection rate has declined to 13.7 percent of youths and adults, from an estimated 14.1 percent last year.

Health Minister Henry Madzorera said the rate was still too high, calling for concerted efforts to push the rate down into single digits.

"We have to redouble our efforts and commitment and keep the sense of hope that indeed one day we will get to the single digit prevalence," Madzorera said, according to the state-run New Ziana news agency.

The figure estimates the percentage of people aged 15 to 49 who have HIV.
Zimbabwe is one of the few countries in the world to have recorded a sharp decline in its HIV prevalence rate, down from a high of 33 percent in 1999.

The drop is attributed to government and donor-backed prevention campaigns, but also to the nation's economic collapse, which has made it more difficult for people to maintain multiple sexual partners.

The country is struggling to care for people with Aids because of severe shortages of antiretroviral drugs. About 60,000 people receive the drugs, only one-fifth of those who need them.

Madzorera said the government was exploring new strategies to fight the pandemic, including male circumcision, which has been shown to reduce infection rates among men.

Just over 1,000 men have been circumcised under a new campaign, he said. - AFP

Labels: HENRY MADZORERA, HIV/AIDS, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 5:22 PM