GREAT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY

ROBERT MUGABE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & CULTURE

DEPARTMENT OF CURRICULUM STUDIES

NAMES: REG. NUMBER:

Maphala Tswarelo M225661
Mbedzi Bianca Bridget M225589
Mkhothamo Eugene M225654
Ngirazi Godfrey M225945
Tshuma Nomalanga M225793

PROGRAMME: B.Ed (Primary and Secondary) In-Service (Honours) Physical Education

Degree Part 1 Semester 1

CELL NUMBER: 0778893651/ 0782857941/ 0771210161/ 0714254733/

0771158645

COURSE TITLE: Health and Life Skills

COURSE CODE: 112

ASSIGNMENT QUESTION: Discuss how HIV/AIDS can be prevented among

adolescents and youths in Zimbabwe

LECTURER: Mr Mutonhori

MARK:

LECTURER’S COMMENTS:
Since HIV/AIDS was discovered in 1981, more than 60 million people have lost their lives to the
virus. The risks of HIV and AIDS for adolescents have long been recognized. Approximately 3
million adolescents are living with HIV and AIDS globally. Approximately two thirds of new
HIV and AIDS infections are adolescents aged 15 to 19. Children living with HIV/AIDS are
faced with challenges such as absenteeism from school, school dropout, a lack of basic human
needs, child labour and stigmatization. Therefore, the essay will identify the key elements that
address the prevention of HIV and AIDS in adolescents is crucial.

According to the United Nations International Emergency Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (2006),
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Felman (2022) defines HIV as a virus that
targets and alters the immune system increasing the risk and impact of other infections and
diseases. This virus damages the human immune system, which is the natural defense against
diseases. It can be found in human body fluids mainly the blood semen and vaginal fluids. This
entails that HIV is a virus that makes our bodies weak and defenseless against diseases.

According to UNICEF (2006), AIDS is an acronym for Acquire Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
AIDS is the final stage for HIV infection. Papalia, Olds and Fieldman (2002) assert that when the
virus has seriously weakened the body’s defense against diseases then the person can be said to
have full-blown AIDS. This implies that AIDS is a medical condition which makes the immune
system to be too weak to fight off infections and diseases. The World Health Organization
(WHO) defines adolescent as any person between the ages of 10 to 19. This age range falls
within WHO’s definition of young people which refers to individuals between ages 10 to 19.

The HIV and AIDS epidemic continues to impact on adolescents and youths in Zimbabwe and
mostly households that of children who are poverty stricken with members lacking basic needs
(food, clothes, medicine) and children living under conditions of limited adult care and support,
Evans and Bercker (2009). A disproportionate burden of HIV infections falls on adolescents, a
developmental stage marked by unique neural, biological, and social transition. Successful
interventions are critical to prevent the spread of HIV in this vulnerable population. There is no
vaccine to prevent HIV infection and no cure for AIDS. Prevention includes educating
adolescents and youth about HIV and AIDS, avoiding any behavior that allows HIV and AIDS
transmission like taking drugs, blood, sharing sharp objects like needles and razors, injections,
provide Information and access to youth friendly services, voluntary male circumcision
Education is an effective tool to reduce the social and economic vulnerabilities that often make
adolescent and youth more prone to become infected with HIV and AIDS. Education raises
awareness. Educated youths are more likely to prevent the spread the disease to others as they
understand the importance of testing and are mindful of the risk of HIV and AIDS. Education
saves lives as educated adolescents and youth have better chance to protect themselves with
access to all the facts about HIV and AIDS. Hence, the world AIDS day which is meant to fight
the disease by devoting more efforts and resources to ensure all adolescents and youth receive a
quality education and schools should be equipped with tools to provide HIV and AIDS education
and life skills training.

Most countries are seeking to develop school based AIDS education as part of their AIDS
prevention. Knowledge about how HIV and AIDS is transmitted can be given through school
curriculum. Programs based on HIV and AIDS prevention should be organized at schools. The
government of Zimbabwe has states that HIV and AIDS prevention, care and support programs
should be fully integrated into the teacher college curricula. The strategy aims to produce
teachers who are trained and skilled to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS trained to be able to
cope with HIV/AIDS infected and affected people in the classroom and community.

Educating children and providing them with the knowledge and skills which can influence good
choices to be made better in life, will protect them as they reach their most vulnerable years.
Similarly educating adolescents and youth in Zimbabwe about how this disease is transmitted,
prevention practices as well as encouraging sporadic testing can result in maximum prevention
on HIV and AIDS.

In its effort to scale up behavior change in young people, the government has been including
comprehensive sexuality education in primary and secondary schools. Ministry of Health and
Child Care (2011) states that between 2015 and 2017 around 12000 teachers were trained to
deliver comprehensive sexuality education and it is now included in the curriculum. This shows
that the government is making sure that youths gain knowledge of HIV. For instance, in schools
we have Guidance and Counseling offered as a service and learning area that is compulsory.
Topics such as sexuality, reproductive health, gender, rights, services and related skills are being
offered in the curriculum. There are peer clubs that also assist in discrimination of HIV
information though dramatization, poetry, art, peer teaching and this is done in conjunction with
the National AIDS council.

Zimbabwe has the greatest access to Anti Retroviral treatment (ART). According to Ministry of
Health and Child Care (2016), the country adopted a treat all policy that ensures that once a
person tests positive for HIV they start treatment regardless of their viral load. According to
UNIAIDS (2019), a number of people have initiated ART treatment each year and in 2018, about
ninety-eight percent of women living with HIV were treated compared to men. This shows that
women were more willing to get treatment than men were. In addition the government is
increasing viral load testing to everyone through ensuring that, all regions gain access to viral
load testing equipment. In spite of this, the government still faces challenges of budget issues
and weak infrastructure while available facilities are found in towns. Ministry of Health and
Child Care (2018) postulates that forty percent of the people who were on treatment in 2017
received viral load test. Thus this meant that due to challenges stayed the government failed to
reach its target of testing viral load. Despite this the government of Zimbabwe managed to
increase access to Anti-Retroviral Treatment to its people.

Adolescents should be encouraged not to share injecting equipment and should be taught to use
sterile needles each time of injection for example the ones they use in drawing tattoos. According
to CDC (2017) Drug use and addiction have been inseparably linked with HIV and AIDS since
AIDS was first identified as a disease. According to the CDC (2017), one in 10 HIV diagnoses
occurs among youth who injected drugs. Drug injection contributed 20% of the recorded HIV
cases among adolescents and as a matter of prevention the government has to put strict measures
to stop drug abuse.

Young people’s needs for services are frequently overlooked in HIV and AIDS programming.
Providing clinic services, which are acceptable and accessible to youth, conveniently located,
affordable, confidential, and non-judgmental, is a promising way to increase the use of clinical
reproductive health services, including HIV testing and counseling (HTC). Beginning at sexual
debut, promoting condoms through mass media in individual or group sessions, along with skills
training, provision of condoms, and motivational education can increase condom use. Condom
use remains a critical prevention method, reducing the chance of HIV acquisition by more than
95%,with comparable effectiveness between male and female condoms when used consistently
and correctly. Increasing the accessibility and availability of male and female condoms can
increase condom use, and promoting condoms for pregnancy prevention and protection from
HIV can increase uptake among adolescents. Expanded access to condoms for young people can
sometimes be fraught in communities, but condoms remain the best protection from HIV for
sexually active individuals.

Besides that, Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) has been listed as one of
Zimbabwe's current prevention strategy. VMMC has been promoted through different Medias to
ensure that makes undergo this in order to reduce their chances of HIV infection by about
60percent. They utilized football to engage adolescent men for example (Kaufman, etc.tal,2016)
says that a soccer programmer called Make- Thre- Cut -Plus more than increased the number of
circumcised youths in Bulawayo. This shows that the VMMC became more popular in teenage
boys. VMMC is also running in schools where health workers collect boys who are willing to be
circumcised. According to the Government of Zimbabwe (2017), Zimbabwe aimed at
administering VMMC to 1.3 million men between 13-29 years by 2018 of which 89percent of
the target was already reached by 2017. Also according to some scholars, people awareness of
the link between VMMC and HIV prevention is also low. Despite these limitations, one can say
the government has done a great job in the rollout of VMMC HIV prevention method.

Despite high risk of HIV and AIDS transmission among young people, few rigorously designed
prevention interventions with HIV endpoints have been evaluated. Adolescents have unique
needs with respect to HIV and AIDS prevention and thus interventions should be designed to
most effectively reach this population with information and services that will be relevant to
them.
Reference

Centers for diseases, control and prevention (CDC). HIV and injection Drug Use . 2017

Evans, R. and Becker, S. (2009). Children Caring for Parents with HIV and AIDS: Global Issues
and Policy Responses. Bristol: The Policy Press.

Felman, A. (2022) 'HIV and AIDS: Overview, causes, symptoms and treatment' Available at
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/17131 [Accessed 15/092022]

Government of Zimbabwe (2017) 'Extended Zimbabwe National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan
(ZNASP) 2015-2020'. [pdf]

Ministry of Health and Child Care (2016). 'Guidelines for Antiretroviral Therapy for the
Prevention and Treatment of HIV in Zimbabwe'. [pdf]

Ministry of Health and Child Care (2018) ‘Global AIDS Response Progress Report 2018’, p10.
pdf

Ministry of Health and Child Care (2019) 'Implementation plan for HIV Pre-exposure
Prophylaxis in Zimbabwe 2018-2020' Available at
https://www.prepwatch.org/resource/implementation_plan_prep_zim/ [accessed 14/09/2022].

Ministry of Health and Child Care (2019) 'Zimbabwe Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment
(ZIMPHIA) 2015-16, p48. [pdf]