AIDS Patients Bitter Over Poor Service Delivery

Chairperson of a consortium of organisations of people living with HIV and AIDS for Budiriro,Mufakose and Glen View  Spiwe Phiri  told Radio VOP in Harare Friday that a stake holder meeting has been held over the issue of poor services they are receiving from local clinics.

“We are not happy at all with the way we are being treated by local clinics where we get our drugs. Nurse there are not listening to our grievances and we are very disappointed.
“When we visit these centres for tablet collection we spend the rest of the day standing while they will be attending to other patients. Imagine standing for the whole without food and after having taken some tablets in the morning. We want to be treated like Tuberculosis patients who come and collect their tablets without waiting for hours like we are doing.

“Recently we held a stakeholders meeting at the National AIDS Council offices with them and if this persists we are going to stage a massive demonstration over this issue because it’s going too far”, she said.
Although the number of Zimbabweans on anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has almost doubled to over half a million issues of getting access to the treatment still needs to be addressed.
Phiri said as a result of poor services from the health institutes most people living with HIV and AIDS are getting assistance from their relatives at their homes.

Trying to help the situation Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (ZNNP+) distributed tones of home based care kits to be used by people living the pandemic failing to access services.
“Apart from the issue of poor services and discrimination people living with HIV and AIDS here are encountering, there is also the issue of user fees which continue to be unbearable. Realising this we found it prudent to bring these home based kits for those failing to get treatment so that they use them at their homes,” Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (ZNNP+) Advocacy and Communications officer Paidamoyo Magaya told Radio VOP.
A local pastor Samson Tegwe described poor services people living with HIV and AIDS are experiencing as gross human rights abuse.

“I think is very important especially to those with influential positions in the society to listen and respect the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS. These people are human beings and should be respected and given attention, “he said.
Home based care kits which ZNNP+ distributed comprise pain killer tablets, bandages, Cotton wool, and Ointment.