ZIMBABWE-HEALTH: AIDS AWARENESS CAMPAIGN HITS HOME

HARARE, Dic 27 (IPS) - THE SCENE IS A BAR IN THE ZIMBABWEAN CAPITAL. MALE PATRONS SHOOT POOLS OR SWAP STORIES OVER DRINKS. FROM TIME TO TIME, THEY BUY THE ODD BEER FOR SOME OF THE WOMEN SITTING LISTLESSLY AT TABLES WAITING FOR CLIENTS.

COME 2300 HOURS - CLOSING TIME FOR MOST BARS HERE - MEN AND WOMEN GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS.

PROSTITUTION MAY NOT BE ON ITS WAY OUT IN THIS SOUTHERN AFRICAN NATION BUT, WITH ONE IN EVERY 10 ZIMBABWEANS REPORTEDLY INFECTED BY HIV, MORE AND MORE MEN WHO FORMERLY USED THE SERVICES OF SEX WORKERS ARE NOW ABSTAINING FROM DOING SO.

AND MANY OF THOSE WHO STILL FREQUENT PROSTITUTES OR WHO INDULGE IN CASUAL SEX USE CONDOMS.

HEALTH OFFICIALS HERE SAY ZIMBABWEANS HAVE BEEN HEEDING AN AIDS AWARENESS CAMPAIGN - BEGUN ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO BY THE NATIONAL AIDS CONTROL PROGRAMME (NACP) - WHICH USES TV SKITS AND ADVERTISEMENTS AS WELL AS BROCHURES TO HIGHLIGHT THE RISK OF UNPROTECTED SEX AND ENCOURAGE CONDOM USE.

ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL PROJECTIONS, APPROXIMATELY ONE MILLION OF THE SOME 10 MILLION ZIMBABWEANS HAVE BEEN INFECTED BY THE HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV), AND ABOUT 120,000 HAVE ALREADY DEVELOPED THE ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME (AIDS).

TO CURB THE SPREAD OF THE DREADED VIRUS, THE GOVERNMENT-RUN NACP AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS HAVE ALSO BEEN DISTRIBUTING CONDOMS FREE OF CHARGE.

"THE PEOPLE ARE NOW CONSCIOUS THAT AIDS STILL DOES NOT HAVE A CURE AND HAVE RESORTED TO USING CONDOMS," SAYS MARGARET MEHLOMAKULU, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE NACP.

SINCE 1989, THE HEALTH MINISTRY HAS SHARED OUT MORE THAN 100 MILLION CONDOMS, WHILE A PRIVATE COMPANY, CONDOMAT, SUPPLIES THE PROTECTIVE SHEATHS TO HOTELS AND NIGHTCLUBS, WHERE THEY CAN BE BOUGHT AT SLOT MACHINES PLACED IN TOILETS.

AT TWO ZIMBABWEAN DOLLARS FOR A PACKET OF TWO, LESS THAN THE PRICE OF A BOTTLE OF BEER, THE CONDOMS SUPPLIED BY CONDOMAT CAN BE AFFORDED BY MOST PATRONS.

SAYS CONDOMAT MANAGING DIRECTOR STALIN MAU-MAU: "WE SELL AN AVERAGE OF 50,000 CONDOMS A MONTH. OUR STRATEGY WORKS BECAUSE WE ARE AVAILABLE AT THE RIGHT PLACES OF PLEASURE."

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