Teenage girls in Zimbabwe who are sexually active remain a difficult group for health workers to target with HIV/AIDS prevention messages.

Despite the country's programs to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, some young mothers are unwilling or afraid of accessing antenatal health care. "We now test all pregnant women for HIV as part of attempts to protect the health of both the mother and child, but this is sometimes very difficult when we are working with teenagers," said midwife Nontando Siziba.

 "Though they are sexually active, not all are willing to take the responsibility to take precautions. We have had cases where these young people are told not to breast-feed but do so anyway, saying if members of the community know they are not breast-feeding their child then they will know they are living with the virus," said Siziba. "It has become very frustrating."

"[Adolescents] are still failing to handle issues relating to stigma, and this has seen them failing to fully benefit from antenatal health care," said Brighton Gwezera, knowledge development and exchange manager for the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative.

Because adolescents do not have enough information about HIV/AIDS and its relation to pregnancy, "We see resistance in accessing proper antenatal health care," said Gwezera. "What needs to be done is the setting up of more support groups for young people where they can freely discuss issues relating to their circumstances."

By Special correspondent