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access to treatment was placed as a priority. Prevention of new HIV infections should be the cornerstone of our national response.
People living positively gave testament to the path they had traversed and the outlook today.

Among the speakers was a Mrs L Mlambo who tested HIV positive in 2004 together with her husband who was critically ill then. The husband sadly passed on in 2005. This did not deter Mrs Mlambo neither did it distract her thoughts that she was determined and able to see her children grow up.
She has not started taking ARVs even up to today and is living testimony that positive living, correct eating, exercising, stress free and opening up are some of the pillars that make life possible after testing HIV positive.

Speaking at Sakubva Stadium last Thursday, Mrs Mlambo said she knew the importance she had to her children hence her perseverance to living.
“My oldest son was in Upper 6 taking science subjects and I had another girl who had just started high school. I told myself that these two important people needed me around and I had to raise them myself,” she said.

Mrs Mlambo said she joined a support group and this helped her a lot.
“We were empowered in that we were taught of the value of herbs, unprocessed foods and natural foods in our diet that we got back to basics which helped as we saw an improvement in our health,” said Mrs Mlambo.

Mrs Mlambo’s eldest son has just graduated and is now a medical doctor at Harare Central Hospital.
Her daughter is at the University of Cape Town where she is majoring in a bachelor of Financial accounting.
Also to speak was a youth who only introduced himself as John. The youth aged 21 was born HIV positive and is today on ART. He urged the youths to know their status and pointed out that he was living normally as he religiously took his ART.

During WAD, circumcision was offered and those willing got t-shirts, caps and a memorabilia water bottles before getting tested and being ferried to one of the centres where the operation was done. Circumcision cuts the rate of infection by 60 percent but should be pointed out that it is not a passport to risky behaviour.

ZNNP+ joined in the march from Meikles in the city to the stadium. Together with drum majorettes, the army band and the goat mascot, the organisation carried messages calling on the government to commit to making universal access a reality.
As we get back to the day to day living are the celebrations and awareness a one day event or they are a part of life which should see the 3 zeros achievable.

Speaking in Epworth at the weekend were three women who are part of the commercial sex workers who said that without proper empowering, the whole idea of 3 zeros remained a mirage.
The women understand the dangers of unsafe sex and are people on ART themselves. The three said at first when they tested HIV positive they used to receive food handouts but that has stopped.
They were given gardens by ARDA which in a way helped as they had irrigation on site. They say their problem came in that not everyone is a farmer and that the second garden project to be availed was far away in Ruwa.

They therefore said they were left with no choice.
“For us there is no choice, using a condom sees one getting paid even US$1 but when having unprotected sex one is paid better, even US$20 and only two sessions pay my rentals,” said one of them.

She fully understands the dangers of getting all the communicable diseases and the overloading effect on her health but she says as long as there are no jobs, then the trend continues.
Now with the drive to have no new infections, if people still have unprotected sex even when they know that they are HIV positive, this does not give a clear picture of the future.

The whole purpose is thus defeated and a great need to get to the drawing board is called for. Could stakeholders get back to the area and see what is the way forward. We ought not develop a culture of dependency but ought to teach the people to fish.

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