The Sunday News
Nhlalwenhle Ngwenya
IN a bid to reach out to many people, Bulawayo National Aids Council has roped in the services of Andy Muridzo and Iyasa for the World Aids Day (WAD) commemorations.
The celebrations which were last commemorated in Bulawayo province 10 years ago will be held at the White city Stadium on 1 December starting from 9 am.
The first WAD was held 29 years ago in a bid to support people living with HIV and to honour those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses.
Since 1988, WAD is observed annually all over the world and in Zimbabwe each province gets the platform to host the national WAD commemorations after every ten years. This year’s commemorations run under the theme: “Closing the tap of new infections”. In a bid to leave an indelible mark in raising HIV awareness, Bulawayo is set to offer edutainment as they target youths and those in need of health services.
“This year the WAD commemorations are going to be held in Bulawayo. To make the invent more interesting and at the same time informative, we are going to have Andy Muridzo, Iyasa and many more local artistes performing at White City Stadium. We are also going to be hosting marches starting from different points,” said Bulawayo provincial Aids director Sinatra Nyathi.
Nyathi added that the commemorations will offer a platform to Bulawayo residents to get free medical services.
“We urge people to come in their numbers as they will be free medical services like HIV testing, dental care, blood sugar testing, voluntary male circumcision, TB and Cancer screening,” she said.
Last year WAD commemorations were held in Kwekwe running under the same theme as this year and Zimbabwe is racing to meet United Nation’s 90-90-90 goal to help end the HIV and Aids pandemic by 90 percent in 2020.
