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Walter Nyamukondiwa Chinhoyi Bureau
MASHONALAND West Province has a massive backlog of blood samples for viral load testing resulting in some people crossing the border into neighbouring Zambia to have their samples processed.

Viral load testing is key in managing HIV and Aids cases, including informing decisions on initiating patients on Anti-retroviral Treatment (ART). Samples sent to Chinhoyi Provincial and Kadoma District hospitals have to wait for anything between two weeks and a month before they are processed.

Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital principal laboratory scientist Mr Michael Nyika confirmed the development saying the machine at the hospital is being “overworked”.

“The machine was supplied by the National Aids Council (NAC) and takes care of all viral load testing for the whole province (Mash West). We monitor the viral load status of all people living with HIV using this machine,” said Mr Nyika.

“It is not coping with the demand, but we schedule the work, which means the machine runs for 24 hours and is also loaded during the weekend. What comes in in terms of samples is greater than what we can process, so we have a backlog.”

As a result, people from areas such as Kariba and Hurungwe take their samples to Mtendere Mission Hospital and Siavonga Hospital in Zambia where samples are processed in a day.

Viral load testing is done to show the level of damage of HIV on the body system, determine the exposure to opportunistic infections for HIV positive patients and evaluate efficacy of treatment.

The machine at Chinhoyi was designed to handle about 5 000 samples every month, but due to demand for the service it is processing more than 7 000 samples every month. Authorities at the referral centre have had to limit the number of samples that clinics in the province can refer to the hospital for processing.

As a result of the backlog, samples are kept in freezers at temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius for a period of about a month while waiting to be processed. NAC provincial coordinator Mr Aggrippa Zizhou said a machine has since been acquired for Kadoma hospital, but the backlog persists.

“The ideal situation for the province is to have a machine at every district hospital. Currently, we are having backlogs and we hope soon every district hospital will have a machine,” said Mr Zizhou.

“The machines are critical for viral load testing, which we use to provide a baseline for initiating people on ART, which lowers the viral load and increase the patient’s CD4 count. We also assess the stages of infection for patients and monitor treatment success or failure, which influences the treatment regimen.”

Mr Zizhou said the goal is to suppress the viral load to undetectable levels, which reduces the chances on one transmitting the virus to others.