By Perpetua Murungweni
Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe WCoZ is working on an intervention to influence the advancement of women’s rights including maternal, mental, and sexual reproductive health rights, safe abortion, and HIV/AIDS among other pandemics through awareness campaigns.
Speaking to this publication WCoZ Masvingo Chapter Coordinator Blessing Chimombo said on July 25, the organization commemorated World Hepatitis Day to raise awareness and increase knowledge about the disease, STIs, and other health issues that affect women.
“As a women’s rights organization, we recognize the importance of health promotion and disease prevention in empowering women. Through our initiatives, we are working to increase education and awareness of health issues and advocating for increased access to healthcare services,” said Chimombo.
Chimombo said by empowering women with knowledge and resources, as an organization they believe it would help them make informed decisions on their health and wellbeing.
“It is essential that we prioritize the health and well-being of women, and work together to ensure that all women have access to the education, resources, and healthcare services they need,” said Chimombo.
The organization’s Masvingo Chapter Chairperson Rebecca Murau said the awareness campaign on Hepatitis B was meant to equip women with knowledge of the disease and to correct some misconceptions about it.
“The awareness campaign addressed some misconceptions about Hepatitis B like that it is not treatable, also that not everyone is at risk. Most women assumed that only pregnant women can get the infection hence they do not care about getting tested.
“We have noted that some women lack knowledge of what hepatitis B is or how it is contracted. Many women would just notice on their antenatal card results of the test but did not know what it meant,” said Murau.
One of the attendants, Moreblessing Manenji from Runyararo suburb said the campaign was helpful because she did not have a full understanding of what the disease was and how it was treated.
“The awareness is a big deal for us women because most of us did not know what the disease is, and how it is treated. I would see it written on my antennal card but wouldn’t know what it was and how to prevent it,” said Manenji.
Hepatitis B is a liver infection which a person can acquire through blood, semen, and vaginal fluids. As such, a person can get the viral infection through sexual contact and some health experts consider hepatitis B a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Among the different hepatitis variants, the Hepatitis B Foundation notes that hepatitis B is the most common cause of chronic liver infections.
