The United States Government has decided to donate $2.1 million to strengthen Zimbabwe's health management system. The goal of this system would be to help record a patients name age and treatment when infected with HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS is one of the biggest problems in Zimbabwe and one that the government is really struggling to control.
In Zimbabwe there are 1.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS. The Zimbabwe government is failing to meet the Abuja Declarations. The Abuja Declarations recommends that the African government allocate 15% of their budget towards health. This requirement is not be met due to bankruptcy.
The CDC is donating computers to track the cases of HIV/AIDS that are being treated. Because of the financial state of Zimbabwe, Ponesai Nyika, the director in the Zimbabwe Ministry of health, welcomes this donation with open arms.
"This donation is really important, has come at a time when we really need it because what has been happening is that at the local clinic they (staffers) have been using hard copies, which is a hard paper system. They records their patients registers and tally sheets; where they tally against the patient's age, name and treatment that has been given." -Nyika
These computer are helping to train the health workers to ensure accurate data collection and analysis. A strong health system will help Zimbabwe to monitor statistics and provide critical information on patients accessing antiretroviral therapy and TB treatment . This could also lead to a early diagnosis.
Very interesting. This is a problem that definitely needs help and it is nice to see that the U.S. government is doing something to help those in need and who have no access to medicine due to financial situations. Medical attention is very important for somebody who has HIV/AIDS and it sounds like those computers that the CDC is donating will help.
ReplyDeleteGood research, very relevant.
I thought this article was very interesting and it really makes me happy that the U.S government is doing something about it. We are a really strong country and its nice to see us helping others out in need. HIV/AIDS is something that no one would want to have especially not having a treatment for it. It's really sad to see how many people are living with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe and it makes us be more thankful for medical attention in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very relevant and interesting topic that I enjoyed reading!
Lauren, Great article choice. Hiv/Aids is such a widespread problem. I think its important that we do things such as donate money where we are such a fortunate country. Its amazing that 1.2 million people from one area could have aids/HIV. Hopefully the money that we donated will be out to good use and help them make advancments in abloishing the issue.
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising to me that the U.S. donated so much money to this third-world country. Many would argue that the U.S. has its own problems to deal with, whether they be economic, social, etc., and that we are not in a place to be aiding other countries. I think it is wonderful that $2.1 million was donated to help HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe. We have the funds to aid countries in need of help, and just because they are not from the United States, does not mean we should not help them. As humans, we should agree to the duty of helping one another battle hardships. Going back to the article itself, I think the computers will be very helpful for tracking the cases of HIV in Africa. This reminds me of the smallpox unit and how the workers who eventually eradicated smallpox traced cases of smallpox in many different ways. Some of these ways were through showing a picture of a person infected with smallpox to a child and having the child show the picture to surrounding towns in search of the cases of smallpox. This allowed the workers to communicate with the members of this community even though they did not know there language, which was a remarkable act. This was a great article which pertains to countries aiding others in stopping the spread of epidemic diseases.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that money was sent to help Zimbabwe to counter its HIV/AIDS epidemic. Compared to the trillions spent as part of the US budget, $2.1 million seems like pocket change, but still enough to make a difference in Zimbabwe. Along with most of southern Africa, the people of Zimbabwe have struggled with AIDS since the disease became an epidemic, and has contributed to Zimbabwe having one of the lowest life expectancies in the world.
ReplyDeleteThe severity of this epidemic allows us to put our position in the United States in perspective. While some may be hysterical over the widespread flu epidemic in America, the disease is relatively mild and much easier to treat than AIDS. We also have diseases that can treat AIDS and give a greatly increased lifespan from what was possible during the early 1980s. These drugs are out of reach to the vast majority of people in Zimbabwe, and we do not have nearly the infection rate as is present in sub-Saharan Afica.