By Virginia Njovo
Masvingo City Council health department has raised alarm over backyard distribution of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) services in the commonage and has since partnered with Pangaea Zimbabwe Aids Trust (PZAT) to speak against the social ill and offer proper services.
Masvingo City Health and Environmental Services Department Director, Suzanne Madamombe told TellZim News that they were in the process of tracing the distributors and take appropriate measures.
“We are worried about unlicensed people offering health services in the residential areas. We are in the process of tracking down the people who are unlawfully distributing services which are harmful to residents. We are warning the peddlers that it is a punishable offence and we plead with members of the public to avoid getting health services in backyards as well as provide us with information that lead us to the offenders,” said Madamombe.
Madamombe said Runyararo Clinic in partnership with PZTA was offering various PrEP options including Oral PrEP which is highly effective in reducing the risk of HIV infection, Injectable PrEP which was recently approved by Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ).
“We are offering PrEP vaginal ring for women which is a safe and effective method to reduce the risk of HIV transmission. As council we are offering awareness campaigns on the new PrEP methods which are user friendly at the clinic so there is no need to go to backyards.
Masvingo City Council Public Relations Officer Ashleigh Jinjika emphasised the need for residents to get services from authorized healthcare service providers to mitigate risks of contracting HIV/AIDS.
“Unregulated PrEP services may provide substandard or counterfeit medications which may lead to treatment failure and drug resistance which lead to health complications such as increased viral load and transmission,” said Jinjika.
She added that backdoor services did not allow proper monitoring of patients which is why it is always safer to seek for authorized health services.
“Backdoor services do not provide adequate monitoring as there will be difficulties in tracking treatment effectiveness or identify potential issues that may be of concern,” said Jinjika.
One sex worker who spoke on condition of anonymity said they were happy with the services being offered by the clinic saying it was convenient for them.
“The approval of injectable and ring PrEP is helping us as sex workers as it more convenient than taking orals on daily basis. We applaud the local authority and its partners for offering this service,” she said.
