The national Aids prevalence stands at 13.7 percent while Gwanda has a prevalence of 17.1 percent and this is a cause of concern, said Dr Chimberengwa the Gwanda District Medical Officer. He said the government had managed to train health personnel from nine clinics in order to administer the 18 clinics setup last year. The personnel were meant to help curb the Aids prevalence in the town and educate the residents on the pandemic.
Before these clinics were established there were only 13 clinics in the whole district and people had to travel long distances to get medical attention. The setting up of the other 18 clinics brings the tally to 31 clinic centres, said Chimberengwa. He said there was a worrying increment of defaulting patients on Anti-Retroviral treatment and this was attributed to the distance they had to travel so as to access treatment. The clinic centres were established in a bid to extend health services and assist patients access treatment, he said.