By Brenna Matendere
Commissioned three years ago, the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) funded Gweru Provincial Hospital (GPH) Centre of Excellence has achieved a great milestone of weeding out stigmatisation on people living with HIV as well as comprehensive management of all opportunistic infections.
Construction of the centre was funded to the tune of US$200 000 by AHF in 2022 after establishing a mutual partnership with the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
A follow up investigation by this publication three years on looking at how the centre is operating showed that people living with HIV who visit the centre are applauding receiving services away from other patients diagonised with different ailments.
Direct observations carried out in two days showed that the facility is providing flawless services like free HIV testing, counselling, comprehensive HIV care for adults and children living with HIV, onsite laboratory and pharmaceutical services.
Patients interviewed as they received these services at the centre were ecstatic.
“This facility has indeed reduced issues to do with stigma because here we are now receiving treatment and other services under the comfort of confidentiality.
“We are no longer facing undesirable gazes from other patients each time we come to take on our ARVs or screening services,” said Nomore Bare, a 46-year-old male Gweru resident from Senga as he walked out of the centre- all smiles.
Mercy Mangezi, a key population member from Ridgemont Heights said the professional help they are now getting is making living with HIV easier.
“The environment is friendly and there are professionals who are giving us treatment services here. It is very different from what is happenning in other clinics like Senga Clinic, Mkoba clinic and elsewhere,” she said.
Nokhuthaba Hadebe (52) from Athlone suburb weighed in:
“The centre has provided significant decongestion from the usually overcrowded, one-room opportunistic infection (OI) clinic that used to be located at the centre of this hospital. Now the centre is separated from the rest and from the gate you just go straight to it without passing through other rooms populated with other patients inside the main building of the hospital,” she said.
AHF started operating in Zimbabwe in 2016 and is currently supporting care and treatment of more than 16 million patients in 13 African countries.
In Zimbabwe alone, the organisation is currently providing HIV and AIDS medical care and treatment to more than 59,000 registered patients.
The Gweru centre started with 3 600 patients registered for HIV treatment and care but the number has since risen over the years.
Dr Fabian Mashingaidze, the Gweru Provincial Hospital Medical Superintendent told this publication yesterday that the facility has been transforming lives over the last three years.
“The facility has provided a one stop centre for comprehensive management of HIV and opportunistic infections. It also provides for management of NCDs in these patients,” he said.
Opportunistic infections (OIs) are illnesses caused by germs like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites that occur in people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV.
These infections typically don’t cause illness in healthy people but take advantage of a compromised immune system to cause disease.
Examples in people with HIV include Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), tuberculosis (TB), candidiasis (thrush), and Kaposi sarcoma.
Effective treatment for HIV, known as antiretroviral therapy (ART), strengthens the immune system and reduces the risk of OIs, but some people may still develop them if they are not on treatment or have a severely damaged immune system.
Dr Farai Peter Macheri, head of the thriving Gweru Centre of Execellence revealed that the support by AHF had strengthened the human resource arm of the institution such as establishment of positions of resident Medical Officer, Medical Laboratory Scientist and Data Clerks.
“Through invaluable assistance from AHF and other partners, our human resources have been significantly strengthened. This includes the addition of vital cadres such as a resident Medical
Officer, Medical Laboratory Scientist, and Data Clerks, among others, ensuring a higher level of professional care,” he said.
He added:
“To that end, we have successfully implemented a one-stop centre concept, meaning patients can receive all the care and services they need under one roof as efficiently as possible. This streamlined approach has drastically reduced wait times, leading to very positive feedback from our patients.”
Dr Macheri was also upbeat that AHF had also paved the way for food security attainment at the centre which is passed on to most vulnerable patients.
“I am particularly proud of our food security initiative. The COE manages a small holding at the hospital, including two greenhouses and an open plot, to grow produce. The funds generated from the sale of this produce are then used to purchase food hampers for our most vulnerable patients. This sustainable model directly addresses a critical need for those we serve,” he said.
GPH matron Mrs Charity Garwe commended the setting up of the centre of excellence at the health institution.
“This was a huge initiative as we worked towards addressing issues of HIV and AIDS at this institution. Our patients used to get such facilities at the casualty and this did not provide them with the necessary facilities needed to address such conditions,” she said.
“I am very pleased to highlight that everything at this institution is up to the expected standards. Our ICU is one of the best in the country as it has the requisite expertise,” she added.
In his address three years ago, AHF director of quality management and clinical operations Dr Nduduzo Dube said the Foundation had designed its programmes to feed into the country’s national health sector.
He said the non-profit making organisation feeds into the country’s National HIV and AIDS Strategic Plan 2021-2025 which seeks to accelerate progress towards the ending of AIDS as a health threat.
“AFH Zimbabwe is spearheading the process of transforming the OI and ART clinics at key central hospitals and provincial hospitals into Centres of Excellence in terms of HIV treatment and care,” he said.
AHF has made structural renovations at different sites across the country. The organisation is supporting OI clinics at Parirenyatwa, Mpilo and Sally Mugabe hospitals, Victoria Chitepo, Gwanda on top of Gweru provincial hospital.
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