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Andile Tshuma, [email protected]

BESIDES protection from unintended pregnancies, condoms are key in the fight against HIV/Aids as well as a plethora of sexually transmitted infections.

Moreso, with new flavours, sizes and designs, lovers are now spoilt for choice; whether one loves the scent of vanilla, caramel  or something fruity like strawberry, ribbed or dotted, everyone’s fetish is met, courtesy of the generous variety available.

As World Condom Day was commemorated in Bulawayo just in time for  Valentine’s Day, lovers were reminded to make use of the life-saving sheath to guard against unplanned pregnancies as well as HIV.

In the Zimbabwe National HIV/Aids Strategic Plan, condom programming is one of the key strategies in the fight against HIV. If used correctly and consistently, the condom helps reduce HIV infections, unwanted pregnancies and sexually  transmitted infections. Correct and consistent use is key.

SAYWHAT Bulawayo  representative Ms Esinathy Sibanda  said as an organisation working with young people, they were championing condom uptake in order to drive down the increasing numbers of illegal backyard abortions among young people in the country. 

“As an organisation, we are championing safer sex as we are concerned about the increase in unsafe backyard abortions as well as STIs and of course HIV. We are striving to ensure that our youths are responsible and see the value in practicing safer sex for better health and we work with young people in and out of school in our various structures,” said Ms Sibanda. 

Mr Mboneni Tshuma from the National Aids Council (NAC) said  it was important for public health institutions to be accessible and friendly to key populations to allow them to access condoms and other health services freely.

“As NAC we understand the value of the condom in the fight against HIV and as such are working to ensure that everyone who is sexually active can freely access this life saving device and one of our key programming  involves working with key and vulnerable populations and to ensure that they freely access condoms in order to make necessary efforts in plugging new infections,” said Mr Tshuma. 

Mr Clever Taderera, the prevention manager for Aids Healthcare Foundation said ending Aids required collective effort in the prevention of new infections adding that keeping condoms  in fashion was one of the best strategies towards the goal. 

“So much has been achieved through collective effort and we commend the Ministry of Health and Child Care for partnering with community organisations and funding partners  to ensure that ending Aids by 2030 becomes a reality,” said Mr Taderera. 

Mr Mission Gwafa from the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council said information on proper condom use was important and institutions must not just assume that because condoms have been around for a while, people know how to effectively use them.

“Distribution is one thing, but ensuring that the devices are used  is another thing, therefore, we need to channel a lot of energy towards empowering communities with knowledge on how to properly make use of condoms so that our end goal of preventing HIV and unwanted pregnancies is met,” said Mr Gwafa.

Bulawayo residents said they appreciated the day as a reminder to practice safe sex for better health. 

A taxi driver working from the Bulawayo City Hall taxi rank Mr Norest  Sibanda said people in his profession often do not find the time to visit clinics and access free condoms.  

“The road show has been interesting and as a taxi driver it has been easy for me to just cross over to the mobile team and collect some condoms as I rarely have time to go and collect free ones at a clinic and would probably not want to buy the ones available for sale at supermarkets,” said Mr Sibanda. 

A university student and campus peer educator, Ms Nomsa Moyo, said she always carried female condoms and felt empowered that she had the option to negotiate for safer sex with her partner.

“As a youth, sometimes emotions and feelings can get in the way of proper reasoning so in order to avoid regrets, I always have female condoms on my person and this helps me guard against foolish situations and unwanted babies. I’m in my final year in college and do not want the stress that comes with missed periods and sexually transmitted infections,” she said.

The Sexual Rights Centre (SRC) in Bulawayo has bemoaned limited access to health services by key and vulnerable populations in the city, including sex workers.

SRC spokesperson, Mr Mojalefa Mokoele said while important strides had been made in creating safe spaces for key  populations (KP) at public health facilities, a number of factors including high staff turnover of trained personnel was undoing the gains.

“Stigma  and discrimination remains a major barrier in terms of access to health services especially in the public sector by key and vulnerable population groups. Although we have select sites that have been identified where staff have been trained and sensitised on sensitive KP health serviced provision, there are some challenges with health human resourcing. Staff attrition,a lot of staff that have been trained have since left the country for greener pastures and there is need for constant training for health workers,” he said.

He  called for nurses, doctors and other health service providers to be trained while they are undergoing training at their institutions on KP service provision in order to save time and resources.

Mr  Mokoele said a restrictive legal environment remains a barrier towards achieving an Aids free generation as discriminated groups may fear accessing health services such as collecting free condoms from clinics.

He said they deal with very sensitive  groups that are hard to find but they, nevertheless need to find them so the country achieves its goal to end Aids by 2030.

Mr Mokoele commended government support through establishment  of social organs that see to the programming of projects targeting key and vulnerable populations.

“We are very much happy with the support of government through the Ministry of Health and NAC through the establishment of a national KP steering committee that is giving overall guidance on how to programme for KP and vulnerable populations. We are  also happy with the support from Global Fund and PEPFAR and also native resources that continue to trickle in for us to continue to programme on KPs in the country,” he said.

As couples are this week celebrating  their love, still in the Valentine’s mood, the message couldn’t have come at a better time. -@andile_tshuma