CATHERINE MUROMBEDZI
HEALTH CORRESPONDENT

Mashonaland Central province in Zimbabwe has been grappling with alarming rates of teenage pregnancies and child marriages. In 2023, a staggering 2,924 teen pregnancies were recorded, alongside 492 early marriages and 2,842 cases of gender-based violence. This trend is consistent with the province’s history of high child marriage rates, with 52.1% of girls getting married before 18, the highest in the country.(UNICEF)
A young mother of four Mikaisi Goga is living with HIV. She shared her inspiring story of resilience and hope, attributing her healthy life and her four HIV negative minor children to the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Goga was addressing health science journalists from the print, online, multimedia and broadcast media. The journalists were on a tour of Mashonaland Central Province. The tour was organised and supported by the National AIDS Council (NAC).

Speaking as a lived experience, Goga lost twins in 2003 when she tested HIV positive during a visit at ante natal clinic (ANC). She was aged 15.
“I had registered for ANC as a first-time mother in 2003. I tested HIV positive. I got ill, being young, carrying a pregnancy was not easy. I then gave birth to twins. The twins got ill and died.
“I was referred to Bindura Hospital because ART treatment was not available at Ruyamuro Clinic here in Guruve. It was expensive to travel to Bindura. When ARVs became available years later, I was commenced on anti retroviral therapy. In 2009, I fell pregnant. I was given a single dose nevirapine pill, which I was instructed to take when labour kicked off. Today, I am happy that all my four children are healthy and HIV negative. Thanks to adhering to ARVs treatment as stated by the doctors,” Goga said.

“In 2011, I had my second child. In 2016, I had my third child. The last born was born in 2021. I breastfed him for two full years. He is healthy. An HIV+ mother can now give birth to an HIV+ child,” said the vivacious young mom.
Guruve District has a total of 153,206 people according to the 2022 census report. According to the 2023 HIV estimates, the District has an estimated 10,185 people living with HIV. The HIV prevalence for the District stands at 7%, which is a slight increase from the previous year of 6.7%.
Today. Goga gets her ART refills from Ruyamuro Clinic, a primary healthcare facility in her home area cutting the traveling costs.
The facility offers full services from treatment.
“I get my ART refills at this facility. I get an annual viral load testing, CD4 Count, cervical cancer screening, tuberculosis screening, diabetes testing, and hypertension testing,” she added.
Gandizani Gondongwe, the District AIDS Coordinator with NAC was pleased with the response that the community is giving to the initiatives the organization and partners are implementing.
“ART coverage for children adolescents, and young people living with HIV lags behind at 36%. The District is implementing two complementary models, namely Sista2Sista and Behavior Change Community Motivator, which is funded by Global Fund and NAC through the National AIDS Trin 2024 wards of the District.  
“Zimbabwe’s modes of transmission show that the greatest number of new infections occur among
single women. Women aged 20-24 have HIV prevalence 2.78 times greater than their male peers,” said Gondongwe.
Quoting a report, he said transactional intergenerational sex was responsible for infecting the young women.
“Forty one percent 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,” said Gondongwe.
“Interventions that 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. As NAC, we have been implementing the Sista2Sista programme in the district since 2018, supported by the Global Fund.
“The District has a total of 26 mentors. Each mentoring 50 Sista2Sista club girls aiming to increase knowledge and utilisation of integrated HIV prevention, SRHR and SGBV services. The focus is to make access easy, empowering them on correct choices.
“The initiative, however, does not address other structural drivers of the epidemic, such as poverty and dependence,” he said.
The aim of the sista2sista approach is:
To enhance the self-efficacy of young women to access and utilise integrated HIV prevention, Sexual Reproductive Health, and Gendet Based Violence services.
Empowers them to make responsible reproductive health decisions in terms of accessing health services, delaying sexual debut,
With Mashonaland Central having the highest teenage pregnancies, interventions had to be made.
The Government, working through the health ministry, UNFPA, UNESCO, UNICEF and implementation through the National AIDS Council (NAC) in partnership with Zvandiri, an organisation focused on children living with HIV launched a programme in August.
Zimbabwe’s “Not In My Village” campaign tackles teenage pregnancies, child marriages, and gender-based violence. Traditional leaders partner with the National AIDS Council and Young People Network to address these issues. Mount Darwin and Mazowe districts have the highest teen pregnancies (1,369 and 1,279), while Mbire District has the most early marriages (235). Shamva leads in gender-based violence cases (623), attributed to artisanal mining.
Chiefs pledged to reduce these scourges, thanking the National AIDS Council for highlighting problem areas. By-laws will be implemented province-wide, starting at district level.

“The province recorded 2 924 teen pregnancies in 2023. Alongside these teen pregnancies, there were also 492 early marriages and 2 842 cases of gender-based violence reported in the same year.
“Awareness programmes, like the Sista to Sista and Brother to Brother, the youth Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, (SRHR) collaborative programmes with Zvandiri are contributing to the higher figures as issues are now reported. To tackle these issues, authorities are taking action. We are working with traditional leaders who are drafting laws aimed at ending early marriages,” said Ndongwe.
The recently launched programme, “The ‘Not in My Village’ campaign”, led by the National AIDS Council and Young People Network on SRHR, HIV and AIDS, is also working to address these problems with support from UNFPA, UNICEF, UNESCO and partners.

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