The Portfolio Committee on Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development and the Thematic Committee on HIV/AIDS and SRHR Researchers Parliament raised concerns over access to HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services among students.
This was following an oversight visit to Chinhoyi University of Science and Technology (CUT) and the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) clinic in Chinhoyi yesterday.
Speaking to this publication after the visit, committee chairperson Dr Josiah Makombe said Parliament was seeking to establish whether young people in tertiary institutions were receiving adequate services and whether existing campus health facilities were responding effectively to their needs.
“We came here to assess the availability and accessibility of HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health services for our young people, particularly students who are in tertiary institutions.
We also wanted to hear directly from the students because it is important for Parliament to understand their experiences, the challenges they face in accessing these services and whether the services being provided are meeting their needs,”Dr Makombe added
The committees engaged CUT students and assessed the functionality of the university’s health facilities, while also visiting the ZNFPC clinic to examine the availability and delivery of family planning and related services.
Dr Makombe said the engagements with students were critical in identifying gaps that may not be immediately apparent from institutional reports.
“You cannot fully understand the situation by sitting in an office and looking at statistics. We need to engage the young people themselves and hear from them what is happening on the ground.
We are looking at the challenges affecting service delivery, including the accessibility of services, the availability of commodities and the extent to which young people are actually taking advantage of the services that are available to them,”he said
He said the findings would assist Parliament in developing practical recommendations to strengthen HIV prevention and SRHR services at tertiary institutions.
“Our responsibility as Parliament is to make sure that we come up with recommendations that will improve access to quality services for our young people. We want services that are available, accessible and responsive to the realities faced by adolescents and young people,” Dr Makombe said.
The committee chairperson said reducing HIV infections among young people required stronger preventive interventions alongside accessible health services.
“We have to strengthen our prevention programmes because it is not enough to treat people after they become infected. We must make sure that young people have the information, services and support they need to protect themselves,” he said.
The oversight visit is expected to inform Parliament’s recommendations on improving HIV/AIDS and SRHR services in tertiary institutions and strengthening measures to reduce HIV prevalence and incidence among young people.
