HARARE Three quarters of people living with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe earn less than $50 per month and cannot afford the life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs or basic commodities, according to a report by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR).The report, which also said that public health workers often demand bribes from patients to get medicines, said most of the people living with HIV or AIDS were not in formal employment, while the government has failed to keep promises to ensure freed ARVs for all needing them.
75 percent of the respondents have an average monthly income ranging 0-50 United States dollars, with the number decreasing as one goes up the range. As such 83 percent of the people interviewed highlighted that they could not afford basic necessities for their day to day lives, the report said.
Health Minister Henry Madzorera could not be reached for comment on the matter.
Zimbabwe is among a few sub-Saharan countries to bring down HIV infection rates from more than 25 percent four years ago to 13.75 percent of the population, according to the latest available figures released last December.
But the pandemic remains a major killer in a country where the public health sector and the economy are still struggling to shake off the effects of a decade of recession and political strife.
Post published in: Politics