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Development actors frequently highlight lack of accurate data on key issues as one of the biggest hindrances to socio-economic planning and policy implementation in the developing world. It can be an impediment to human and economic development much like inadequate funding to implement projects, or absence of skilled personnel.

Without up-to-date information, governments, donors, non-governmental organisations, even politicians find it difficult to come up with implementable socio-economic plans in many Third World countries. Often when they proceed on the basis of non-existent or inaccurate data, the policies and programmes tend to be of little or no impact at all. Some can even worsen the bad situation targeted for improvement.

If, for example, a government does not know the number of its citizens who are food insecure, it is impossible for that government to mobilise aid to effectively address the hunger. The aid can be too little, a situation that condemns the hungry to worse hunger, or it can be too much resulting in wastage of scarce resources.

Therefore, the centrality of relevant data, among other factors of course, cannot be overemphasised in governments’ efforts to develop their people.

Zimbabwe, a developing nation, is also affected by this inadequacy of accurate, up-to-date and relevant data on many matters. A few findings of the civil service head count have demonstrated how dangerous it is for government to run on inaccurate data. We just learnt that we had as many as 3,000 ghost teachers who were actually drawing salaries monthly. This is in relation to the teaching profession only. How about in other arms of government?

In that connection, we welcome the launch yesterday of the $3 million national HIV and Aids survey, the Zimbabwe Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (ZIMPHIA). To be conducted over six months, the study, an African first, seeks to ascertain the enormity of the local HIV and Aids burden and assess the impact of interventions rolled out so far.

Director of the Aids and TB Unit in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Owen Mugurungi said salient focus issues will include prevalence of HIV in adults and children, prevalence of anti-retroviral drug resistance, prevalence of syphilis among adults and coverage of ARVs in the country.

“It gives us an opportunity,” said Dr Mugurungi, “to take stock as government on what we have managed to achieve as a country in the last 10 years or so after HIV was declared an emergency in 2002. This survey is the first of its kind in Africa and we will be a global example of HIV impact assessment and the experience will give direction and pointers to other countries.”

Technically speaking, the structure of the research is plausible in many ways. It has a broad scope given the huge sample size, 15,000 households and comprehensive given that subjects would be rendered useful services as opposed to being bothered by having to field personal questions as is the case with most surveys.

A larger sample size that is demographically and geographically representative tends to yield more accurate results than a smaller one that fails to split a population into its various segments.

Offering HIV testing and counselling services will serve as an immediate personal spin-off for those to be sampled. This should be beneficial as Aids services are not always available everywhere.

The research will measure the impact of HIV and Aids to come up with a more specific prevalence rate of the virus, gauge the impact or lack thereof of existing interventions and indicate what should be done to address any identified gaps.

It is pleasing that the study in terms of depth and extent is an African first and will provide important data not only for us as Zimbabwe, but other African countries facing Aids epidemics like ours.

For Zimbabwe, we are hopeful that after the data collection and analysis the gaps to be uncovered in terms of the HIV prevalence rate and response to it and other sexually transmitted diseases would be expeditiously plugged, and resources to achieve that availed. We say this because — and it is yet another challenge in African response to its socio-economic questions — merely understanding a situation and doing something useful about it are two different matters.

As a country, we expect to benefit from the history-making study.

We have to point out, and this is very important, that there appears to be a misconception with the term used, “door-to-door HIV testing.” From the feedback we got to our story on the subject that we published yesterday, it appears that some people believe that this study would be compulsory. Some of our interlocutors were scared that they would be forced to take an HIV test and their statuses revealed.

Based on our understanding of such studies, we wish to dispel this view. Studies of this nature are religiously conducted on the basis of voluntary participation and informed consent. There are clear ethical issues the researchers will have to adhere to and anyone who is unwilling to be subjected to the research is, typically, empowered to refuse.

But for socio-economic planning purposes and the national response to the Aids pandemic, the ZIMPHIA is what the doctor ordered.