Tendai Magure, the NAC chief, said that the machines were meant to ensure that people had access to testing in order to enrol for treatment at an early stage. According to experts, 55 per cent of Zimbabwe's troops are HIV positive and three quarters of them will die within a year of leaving national duty.
Ministry of Health officials say that soldiers are put at greater risk of contracting the virus by the very nature of military operations. Military camps, where soldiers are posted on missions or for training, are often situated in remote and poor areas, and the camps are seen as high-income areas by the local communities, particularly female sex workers.
Magure said that the NAC, which receives money from workers in Zimbabwe, bought the CD4 count machines in order to improve the management of the disease that has killed thousands in the country.
Experts have called for the army structure to include counselling and testing centres to help mitigate the effects of the illness.
Altogether NAC purchased 12 CD4 count machines and have been installed at various centres, including army clinics.
Post published in: News