Poverty fueling sharp increase in teen STIs

Lazarus Sauti

CALEDONIA Farm, also known as KwaBhobho, located near Tafara high-density suburb just outside Harare, is a haven of social ills such as drug abuse and prostitution.

With no business activity, and with poverty biting, most teenagers in the area engage in irresponsible sexual activities which endanger their lives.

Silas Mutehwe (not his real name), highly intoxicated, boasts that he drinks and engage in sexual activities to while up time since he is unemployed and has nothing else better to do.

Ignorant to the scourge of HIV and AIDS, Mutehwe, 17, confesses that he does not use protection.

“I am jobless and to kill time, I drink kamusombodia (a highly intoxicating beer that costs only 50 cents) with my friends. Tinozongokechawo since we cannot do without sex and to tell you the truth, neither I nor my friends use condoms,” he explained.

Sekuru Danny Machadu, from the Gazebo area of Caledonia, blames poverty as well as poor parenting for the rising cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and other opportunistic infections among young people.

He also said teenagers’ drinking habits are making them indulge in sex beyond their desire, causing an epidemic of risky sex.

“Most youths put their health at risk by engaging in illicit activities such as drug abuse, excessive drinking and rampant unprotected sex.

“This irresponsible behaviour by our youth, though pushed by high levels of unemployment, shows that young people lack necessary sexual reproductive health information as well as skills and confidence required to negotiate safer sex,” he said.

Daphne Jena, a gender activist, says poverty, unemployment and limited access to sex-related information are to blame for behavior such as Mutehwe’s which has seen a sharp increase in teen STIs in this country.

“Poverty is an underlying issue which forces teenagers to indulge in sexual activities and as a result, it fuels an increase in STIs,” she noted.

Jena added that the increase in teen STIs is worrying, as those sexually transmitted infections might also translate to new HIV infections.

Ruwa Clinic, for instance, recently recorded a sharp rise in STIs among youths aged between 12 and 22 years.

In January 2015, 117 were treated; while March recorded 165 STIs cases among the youths.

This rise, according to the National Aids Council (NAC) vice board chairperson, Beatrice Tonhodzayi-Ngondo, is unacceptable.

“We continue to record high cases of STIs, and it is disappointing that young people are also contributing to the continuous increase in sexually transmitted infections,” she said.

Tariro Makanga, head of Communication and Knowledge Management for Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service, concurs that the increase in teen STIs shows that young people are indulging in unprotected sex.

“What this sharp increase tells us is that teens are indulging in unprotected sex and we are missing the mark on prevention,” she affirmed.

To heighten the problem, Yasin Abdullah, director for the Doctors for Hope in Zimbabwe (DHZ), says most teens shun medical assistance until their illness reaches critical levels.

Further, there is also a staff shortage at Ruwa Clinic, the only health facility that covers Ruwa and Caledonia.

Julieth Makombe, the Ruwa town secretary, said: “Ruwa Clinic has eight nurses to take care of a population of more than 60 000 people. The Clinic does not have a doctor, and it often refers cases to Parirenyatwa or Chitungwiza hospitals for specialist treatment.”

However, Abdullah believes greater efforts are needed to get the safer sex message across to the younger generation, a notion supported by Makanga, who said that “we all need to put a concerted effort and ensure that the nation, especially teens are empowered and educated on sexual reproductive health rights.”

Makanga added that Zimbabwe needs to intensify age-specific interventions on sexual and reproductive health since most teenagers are having unprotected sex.

“This is the time to go back to basics and start dialoguing with young people. We cannot keep on maintaining our silence, but continue create awareness through the provision of information.

“Sex and sexuality issues should be discussed openly.” Makanga said.

She added that we need to equip young people like Mutehwe and others with the skills and ability to be responsible for their own health.

Simbarashe Namusi, a youth activist, urges families to self introspects and provide for their children.

“When you talk to young people, their issue is they indulge to supplement meager resources.

“This, therefore, means parents should self introspect and be keepers of their children so that they do not succumb to peer-pressure,” he said, adding that parents should talk to their children openly about reproductive health as STIs, HIV and AIDS.

Namusi also believes that government needs to fight poverty and capacitate organisations that have the mandate to address youth reproductive health issues such as the Zimbabwe National Planning Council if the country is to empower youth and halt STI increase.