Sports and Recreation Commission Commends NAC Sports Oriented HIV and AIDS Prevention Programmes
Trust Govere (NAC)
The Sports and Recreation Commission has applauded sports-oriented HIV and AIDS prevention programmes being implemented and coordinated by National AIDS Council of Zimbabwe. Officially opening NAC supported HIV and AIDS two-day capacity building meeting for sports journalists, Sports and Recreation Director General Mr. Sebastian Garikayi said, “I am pleased that NAC has various HIV prevention programmes that integrate sports, such as Brother2Brother and Sista2Sista among others. In addition to offering early knowledge and empowerment about HIV, these programmes are very important to inculcate values of wellness given the rampant increase in non-communicable diseases among our people. Engaging in physical sports promotes fitness, health and wellness among all people that can do so. As you will all be aware, lack of physical activity breeds various kinds of ailments that we can address by engaging in physical sports”.
The meeting, which started on 08 February 2022 in Chinhoyi is part of ongoing media engagements being supported by NAC to ensure HIV and AIDS remains on the media agenda. The engagements include media tours, capacity building meetings and media awards. These engagements have seen increased general coverage of HIV and AIDS with a marked improvement in quality reporting.
Commenting on the meeting, Mr. Blessed Mhlanga of Heart and Soul said “l applaud NAC for conducting this meeting as it will ensure integration of HIV and AIDS into sports reporting and l also recommend NAC to extend this type of capacity building meetings to the sports personalities as well”.
Brotha2Brotha Programme
Overall goal:
To groom/mentor the boys into responsible men, reduce HIV incidence among young men
Objectives:
1. Increase the young men’s urgency to access SRH information.
2. To reduce HIV, STI and GBV incidences among boys and young men.
3. Improve men’s health seeking behaviour
4. Reduce gender based violence against girls and women.
5. Foster leadership as well as mentor young men who are gender sensitive and contribute towards creating a better Zimbabwe.
The Brother2Brother Programme is an intervention in which peer to peer communication strategies are engaged in order to effect and promote positive male norms and behaviour change, encourage uptake of health services such as HTS, VMMC, Consistent use of Condoms, reduction of sexual partners among adolescent boys and young men, as well as address Gender Based Violence in their communities.
Clubs are formed as mentorship groups for vulnerable adolescent boys and young men aged 10-24.
These clubs offer safe, youth friendly and comprehensive SRH information. It is a sport-centered intervention in which sporting activities are used to mobilise and entertain the targeted young boys and young men. The clubs serve as information centers for vulnerable young men and offer referral pathways for Health (ARSH, STI, HIV and AIDS) and GBV services. Young men are recruited through sport, home visits, referrals (clinics, victim friendly unit, social welfare, schools).
Each mentor will have two groups of 25 boys each (50). 24 sessions are conducted over a 12 months period guided by a Manual
Sista2Sista Programme
The Sista2Sista programme is an HIV and AIDS prevention and management programme targeting adolescent girls and young women.
Overall Goal
1. Reducing fertility rates of AGYW in rural areas,
2. To increase knowledge and utilization of integrated HIV prevention, SRH and GBV services among the vulnerable AGYW
3. Reducing the prevalence of gender based violence, teenage pregnancies, child marriages, STIs, HIV among AGYW
Objectives
1. Increasing knowledge and utilisation of integrated HIV prevention, SRH and GBV services.
2. Enhancing the self-efficacy and agency of young women to access and utilise these integrated services by empowering them to make responsible reproductive health decisions.
3. Facilitating the building of group rapport among groups of young women through meetings in clubs of girls only dubbed “Sista2Sista Clubs”
4. Providing an environment where an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust between the Club members can be built, giving them a social support network within their own community.
HIV and AIDS Statistics For Adolescences and Young Women
Zimbabwe’s modes of transmission study (ongoing) shows that the greatest number of new infections – more than 16,000 a year – occur among never married women. Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) in particular experience dramatically disproportionate burden and risk factors. For example, young women (20-24) have HIV prevalence 2.78 times greater than their male peers. 17.1% of women aged 15-19 who had sex in the last year did so with a partner that was ten or more years older (up from 15.2% in 2010 and 7.5% in 2005). Further, 41% of girls report sexual debut before 18 years as unwanted and rates of transactional sex are high, and increasing. The HIV prevalence among young women (18-24) with two or more transactional sex partners in the last six months is estimated at 32%, compared to 10% among those who have never had transactional sex. Interventions which address the social and structural factors that fuel intergenerational, forced and/or transactional sex – particularly gender inequality and sexual and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) – are critical for preventing HIV among AGYW. Given that less than half of young people in Zimbabwe are knowledgeable about HIV prevention methods (46% among women and 47% among men), improved Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is also critical.
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