HARARE - Tonnes of paediatric drugs including Anti-retrovirals for children are expiring in Zimbabwes hospitals while hundreds of children in the country under the age of five are dying of HIV and AIDS related ailments because of ignorance by parents who do not have access to information on where to get treatment and drugs.
National AIDS Council Media and communications officer Orirando Manwere said: “Stocks of ARV syrup for children and other paediatric drugs are expiring in the country’s hospitals while children are dying every day. Parents are reluctant to take their children to health centres for HIV and AIDS testing. We are worried as NAC to note that development while policy makers are not saying anything to address that situation. There is need for education awareness among the communities. They need to be told where to get these drugs and the benefits of that practise. We are denying children their right to health and we are destroying our own future.
“The coverage on HIV diagnosis on children is not pleasing at the moment. We facing problems of health workers hesitating to initiate ART on children They are not yet confident in doing the job… but we have embarked on a training programme.” The National AIDS Council says 158 798 children are infected with HIV while 39 809 children die per year from AIDS related ailments.