Limited syphilis testing for key populations in Zimbabwe: A silent public health threat

Mathias Dzobo; Tafadzwa Dzinamarira; Grant Murewanhema; Roda Madziva; Helena Herrera; Godfrey Musuka

doi:10.4102/sajid.v37i1.385

Limited syphilis testing for key populations in Zimbabwe: A silent public health threat

S Afr J Infect Dis. 2022 Jun 10;37(1):385. doi: 10.4102/sajid.v37i1.385. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mathias Dzobo¹, Tafadzwa Dzinamarira¹, Grant Murewanhema², Roda Madziva³, Helena Herrera⁴, Godfrey Musuka⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
² Unit of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
³ School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
⁴ School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
⁵ ICAP at Columbia University, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Abstract

In this article, the authors discuss the problem of high prevalences of active syphilis amongst key populations (KPs) in Zimbabwe, in combination with low testing rates, partly because of a difficult legal and social environment for these populations. The article highlights the need to develop strategies to address the high prevalence of syphilis amongst KPs. The authors discuss requirements for addressing deficits in existing clinical services, predominantly primary care settings, in providing primary healthcare, including sexually transmitted infection (STI) management, to Zimbabwe's KP communities and utility of point-of-care testing and self-testing and other innovations to improve testing uptake.

Keywords: HIV; Zimbabwe; key populations; syphilis; testing.