Namibia's success in the fight against HIV
Harvey Davis comes to open the gate to his dusty, wind swept compound in
the remote part of northern Namibia. "Welcome,
welcome, it's been so long since we've had visitors," he exclaims at the
two health workers. The 79-year-old
summons his wife, Ruth Nasidengo, who is 40, from their home. She emerges with
two babies, clinging to each arm.
This is the front line
in Namibia's war against HIV, where a data-driven on-the-ground approach has
helped it become one of the most successful countries in tackling its spread. The red-uniformed
health workers are field officers, who report to a troop commander, who in turn
is under a division commander. Rather than guns, their weapons are a small
plastic table and a cooler bag filled with ice packs and HIV tests. Leontine Iipinge and
Maria Johannes have walked more than 3km (2 miles) from their base in the
Oshana region to visit the couple.
The initials TCE,
meaning Total Control of Epidemic, stand out in bold letters on their shirts.
It is a programme run by a national NGO, Development Aid from People to People
(Dapp Namibia). The field workers are
two of more than 200 TCE health workers serving a population of nearly 182,000.
Mrs Nasidengo, a
mother of twins, has been living with HIV for over a decade and has been a
client of TCE for two years… read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46397877
